The Very Best Toys for Fine Motor Skills Development
Want to know which are the best toys for fine motor skills development? Fine motor skills are an important part of early child development. Many preschool lessons and activities focus on or incorporate opportunities for children to practice and develop these critical skills.
If you’re looking for lots of fun and engaging ways to help your preschoolers practice motor skills including fine motor skills and gross motor skills, you’re in the right place! I’m excited to share some of my favorite ways to practice fine motor skills including great toys you can use in the classroom and at home, printable activities, and hands-on practice opportunities.
Ready to discover the very best toys for fine motor skills development? Keep reading to see my favorite tools, printable activities, and the best toys for fine motor skills!
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you.
How Can I Improve My Child’s Fine Motor Skills?
Fine motor skill development plays a critical role in early child development. Building fine motor skills is tied to many different developmental areas.
Your preschooler will need strong fine motor skills for daily tasks including getting dressed and eating. Control of the small finger muscles will also help your preschoolers to master handwriting, using a computer mouse, and even playing a musical instrument.
There are lots of fun ways to help our children develop and improve the fine motor skills in their little hands. With fun and engaging toys, hands-on activities, and no-prep printables, you can incorporate fine motor skill-building opportunities your preschoolers will enjoy every day.
What Toys Develop Fine Motor Skills?
There are so many new and exciting toys you can use to practice fine motor skills with your preschoolers! If you can’t go out and grab the latest and greatest fine motor toys, don’t worry. While I love keeping my kids excited and engaged with brand-new fine motor activities and toys, the truth is that you can practice these important skills with just a few basics too.
Basic toys and activities that encourage children to manipulate things with their fingers and build strong finger muscles are ideal for helping kids develop fine motor skills. Want to see the best toys for fine motor skills to have in the classroom and at home? Check them out below!
8 Toys for Fine Motor Skills Development
While special toys aren’t necessary for fine motor skills practice, they sure do make it a lot more fun! Add these best fine motor toys and activities to your gift list or grab a few to have on hand for the young children in your classroom this year.
Lacing Toys
Lacing toys promote fine motor skills development by improving eye-hand coordination, and pincer grip. Plus, they help preschoolers practice patience and perseverance while increasing their attention span.
Wooden Threading Toys are one of my favorite lacing activities for the preschool classroom. These chunky wooden apples and cheese wedges will give your preschoolers something that’s easy to hold and manipulate as they work on threading with sturdy wooden lacing tools.
Lacing cards like these Melissa & Doug farm animal cards are another great option for developing fine motor muscles.
Fine Motor Games
Learning with games is a great way to engage reluctant learners! Plus, it’s an important way to teach preschoolers about taking turns, sharing, and strategizing.
Check out some of my favorite fine motor games for preschoolers below. All these games have small objects for preschoolers to manipulate as they practice building fine motor control.
Games are some of the best toys for fine motor skills development for kids of all ages. There are games for just about every subject and learning concept!
Take Apart Toys
Toys that preschoolers can take apart and rebuild are another fun way to practice fine motor skills. Plus, these types of toys encourage preschoolers to build STEM skills and explore engineering concepts.
Here are some of my favorite toys you can take apart for students.
Best Building Toys
Building materials are a real win for STEM skill building and encouraging fine motor development with kids of all ages. Plus, they’re perfect for increasing creativity in the classroom and helping preschoolers learn to think critically.
Some of our favorite building toys for the development of fine motor skills include LEGO bricks, Plus Plus blocks, and Lincoln Logs.
Toy Gears
Gears are great for exploring creativity, learning about cause and effect, and building excellent hand muscles too. The Gears! Gears! Gears! Toy Set from Learning Resources is one of my favorite ways to practice fine motor skills with younger children in the classroom and at home.
Peg Boards & Geoboards
Geoboards and peg toys are also great at helping kids develop critical fine motor skills! Here are some of my favorite geoboards and peg boards for preschoolers:
Learning Resources Double-Sided Geoboard
Wooden Montessori Rainbow Peg Board
Sensory Bin & Sensory Tools
A sensory bin is an excellent way to teach all kinds of fun concepts to young kids and older kids too. Check out all the fun Sensory Tools from Learning Resources for fun ways to add fine motor skills and pincer grasp practice to your lessons this year.
This type of multisensory experience is the perfect way to help preschoolers practice finger control, explore the five senses, and develop more precise movements.
Modeling Clay
Some of my favorite educational toys are the simplest. For example, modeling clay and play dough are simple sensory toys that can help younger kids learn new skills and gain greater control of their finger muscles. Check out my Dinosaur Playdough Mats for open-ended play and fine motor practice that’s so much fun for preschoolers!
Mr. Potato Head
I just love Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head! These interactive toys can be built in so many different ways.
They’re not just great for fine motor play with preschoolers, potato heads can help your students develop social-emotional skills and problem-solving skills too.
You can do so many different activities with potato heads, including helping your preschoolers to practice pretend play and build important early social skills too. Even older children will enjoy making fun and silly creations with potato head toys.
More Fine Motor Activities for Preschool
There are so many great learning tools you can use in the classroom and at home to build fine motor skills with your preschool learners. Are you looking for more fun games and great tools to your students build strength and dexterity in their little fingers?
Check out my favorite hands-on fine motor skills activities and printable fine motor skill-building pages for preschoolers down below.
Fine Motor Skills Activities for Toddlers and Beyond
Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Activity for Preschoolers
What’s your favorite way to help preschoolers practice fine motor skills? Is there a toy for fine motor skills development that I forgot to mention? Share your favorite fine motor toys and activities in the comments so we can all add them to our classroom resources this year!
