When we use our hands and wrists we are using fine motor skills. For instance, activities like writing, cutting with scissors, getting dressed, brushing teeth and hair, eating, and playing are all using fine motor skills. These skills need steady muscles and joints, good hand-eye coordination, a sense of touch, and the ability to plan movements.
Strategies and advice
The following activities will help with grip strength, finger isolation (being able to use one finger at a time), precision grips (being able to correctly pick up very small things) and hand arches (bend the hand).
Palmar grasp and release
This is one of the first stages of a child’s development and is a building block for all other fine motor skills. It is essentially being able to squeeze the hand closed.
Activities to help promote Palmar grasp and release are:
- squeezing water from sponges, wringing out flannels etc. at bath time or during water play
- using squirty toys
- using posting toys
- squeezing play dough
- scrunching up paper into balls
- stacking blocks on top of one another
- throwing objects.
This grasp then develops into more functional grasps such as a cylindrical grasp, which begins to involve the movement of the wrist.
Activities that help to develop such a grasp are:
- pushing or pulling toys
- ‘Row, row, row your boat’ whilst holding a stick in two hands
- tug of war
- tipping water from a beaker or pouring it from one container into another
- holding on to the handles of a tricycle or pedal car
- holding bats or a skipping rope handle.
Finger isolation
Finger isolation means being able to point with one finger at a time. This is important for your child to learn because it helps them develop better grips like the pincer grip and pencil grip. Being good at this will help them with activities like writing, cutting with scissors, doing up buttons, zips, laces, and using a knife and fork.
Activities to help children move their fingers one at a time are:
- drawing in shaving foam or whipped cream with one finger
- flicking a ping-pong ball or cotton wool ball using fingers
- playing with finger puppets
- finger rhymes such as ‘Round and round the garden like a teddy bear’ or ‘Incy wincey spider’
- using a typewriter, keyboard or piano
- pressing beads or poking holes into Playdough/Theraputty, using each finger in turn
- dialling the numbers on a toy telephone.
Pincer grip
A pincer grip is when you use your thumb and index finger to pick up and hold small things. This is a more careful and precise way to grip than using your whole hand. At first, children might use their thumb and the side of their index finger. This grip is important for many things like doing up buttons, zips, tying shoelaces, writing, and using scissors.
Activities to help develop and refine the pincer grip include:
- using tweezers to pick up objects and dropping them into containers
- picking up small objects such as rice, beads, marbles, raisins and lentils between the thumb and index finger and placing them into containers
- threading beads, lacing and sewing boards
- playdough or Theraputty – pinching, squeezing, patting, poking and pulling it
- pulling toys using a string
- picking up small objects such as rice, beads, marbles, raisins and lentils between the thumb and forefinger and placing them into containers
- tearing paper into strips
- peeling off small stickers to make into a picture
- turning pages in a book
- making paper chains
- using Fuzzy Felt
- playing games using clothes pegs (sorting, pegging out dolly clothes, placing and removing pegs from the edge of a tub/container)
- making pipe cleaners into shapes, objects or animals
- popping bubble wrap.
Hand arches
Hand arches help the hand to hold things like pencils. They let you control how hard you grip and move your fingers.
Activities to help develop hand arches are:
- shaking dice using a cupped hand
- cutting Playdough using a knife or pizza slice
- writing with chalk on a chalkboard using all four fingertips and the thumb
- using a ‘squeezy’ bottle to blow ping-pong balls or cotton wool balls across a table
- using playdough or Theraputty to make balls and press them into the palm of the hand
- using tweezers or tongs to pick up small objects
- playing games with pegs
- any activity with buttons, coins or small objects
- card games
- squeezing games using sponges, bubble wrap and playdough.
Last reviewed February 2026