Developing Motor Skills

Games to help your child develop Fine Motor Skills

The information on this page is also available to download:

• Games for Fine Motor Skills (pdf 23 kb)

There are lots of commercial games available that will help your child to develop their fine motor skills like control of their whole arm, using two hands together, manipulation, speed and general dexterity.  They may also help with learning about sharing, taking turns, building concentration and attention span.

Enjoy playing family games with your child, or encourage older brothers and sisters or friends to play with younger children to reinforce rules and sharing.

Games for co-ordination and control

• Fishing game
• Bopit and bopit extreme
• Topit
• Buckaroo
• Jenga
• Buzz off
• Monkey Business
• Jacks
• Tea sets

Construction Games

• Lego / lego technic / ello
• K’nex
• Brio mechano and train sets
• Magnetix
• Marble runs
• Transformers
• Junk modelling / model making
• Jigsaws

Games to encourage scribbling /drawing

• Etch a sketch
• Magna doodle
• Aqua draw

Games for thinking and talking with fine motor skills too

• Scrabble
• Guess who
• Pictionary

Games for manipulation

• Operation
• Bed bugs
• Kerplunk/busy bees
• Pop up pirates
• Wiggly worms
• Pick up sticks
• Scoobies
• Card games
• Hamma beads
• Tiddly winks
• Hungry hippos
• Threading and lacing beads and cards
• Dressing up dolls
• Mr and Mrs Potato head
• Ludo and frustration
• Play doh and clay and toys/tools to play with eg rolling pin, cutters and pastry wheel
• Travel versions of games like draughts and connect four
• Battle ships
• Rubiks cube
• Mousetrap
• Perfection