Fun Fine Motor Alphabet Activities for Kindergarten

 It is so important for students to practice fine motor skills every day! Remember, Kindergarteners are usually 4 or 5 years old when they begin school. They are still kids, they are still growing, developing, exploring, and learning. As teachers, we need to help them with these basic skills and help them strengthen their fine motor skills. It is a foundation for so many things that they will do in school and throughout their day-to-day life. 

Incorporating fine motor skills into academics is so important for younger students and has so many benefits. 

• Helps students with reaching, grasping, and moving objects
• Improves hand-eye coordination
• Helps develop handwriting and drawing skills
• Promotes independence and body awareness
• Helps build their self-esteem

One of the best ways that we can help our students build and practice these fine motor skills is to practice them daily. I love incorporating these fine motor activities into our daily lessons any chance that I get. One of my favorite ways to incorporate fine motor skills is by combining the activities with our alphabet practice.

Letter recognition activities do not have to be drill and practice or flashcards. There are so many ways to make learning letters fun and hands-on while incorporating some fine motor practice. Let me show you a few of my favorite fine motor alphabet activities.

Playdough

Ok, what kid doesn’t love playdough! Playdough is a great tactile tool for students to use to strengthen the muscles in their hands which will help improve their handwriting and cutting skills. Students love building letters with Playdough by rolling and shaping the dough to form and name each letter they create.

Stickers

If your kids are anything like mine, then they are obsessed with stickers. I can put out some stickers sheets and they are gone that same day. Having kids peel the stickers off of the sheets and matching them carefully on a line is great for fine motor and hand-eye coordination. I just grab some scrap paper, write letters on them and give my kids stickers and let them have fun! As they are putting the stickers on the letter, they are practicing forming the letter and we will talk about the name of the letter.

Building Bricks

My kids always race to get to the building bricks bin first! They just love stacking and building different creations with these so why not incorporate them into letter practice! Students will look at the letter on the mat and recreate the letter using the building bricks. Then they will practice finding and writing the letter on the mat.

Tearing Paper

A great way to help improve fine motor skills is having kids just simply tear paper. This is great for their finger grip and strength. And the best part, it doesn’t have to be perfect! I give kids a stack of construction paper squares and just let them tear tiny pieces from each sheet of paper. Then they can use those tiny pieces of paper that they tore to trace and cover different letters. Also, a great way to help students learn how to form each letter.

Snap Cubes

My kids love playing and building with snap cubes. Putting the snap cubes together and taking them apart is a great way to build strength in their hands. Ummm, even sometimes I need to practice this skill because they can be tough to take apart! Students will roll the dice to see which color cube to pick to start making each letter. Great practice for color recognition and one to one correspondence also.

Salt/Sand Tray

Salt and sand trays are always a favorite with my kids. something about the feel of the sand running through your fingers fascinates the kids. It’s a texture that many of them have not had the opportunity to explore. I place a thin layer of salt or sand in the bottom of my tray and give my kids alphabet cards. Photo from ThisMummasLife.

Pattern Blocks

We love creating fun designs with pattern blocks, so why not use them to create letters too! Students will spin the spinner to see which pattern block to use first to build each letter. They will keep spinning until they have completed the letter.

Shaving Cream

Anytime that I pull out the shaving cream, I can see my kids’ faces light up! They love rubbing the shaving cream all over the tables and squishing it between their fingers. While they have it spread all over the table, this is a great time for them to practice forming and naming letters by writing different letters in the shaving cream with their fingers. Photo from The Innovative Momma.

Dab a Letter

There’s always something fun about using Bingo Daubers with any activity. They love being able to “smash” the dauber into the paper. Students can use these daubers to trace the letter as they say the letter name and form each letter.

Punch Cards

Kids always feel special when they get to use “teacher tools.” Being able to use the teacher hole punch is a huge deal with my kids. It is also a great way to strengthen the muscles in their hands by having to keep squeezing the hole punch to make holes in the paper. Grab a small sheet of paper and write letters all over the paper. Have the students find the letter that you name and punch a hole on the letter to identify the letter. Photo from School Time Snippets.

Fill a Letter

So I may have a slight obsession with mini erasers. I am always trying to find fun ways for my kids to use them in different activities throughout the day. We love using these letter mats for so many different uses! One of our favorite ways is practicing naming and forming each letter by placing one mini eraser in each dot. So great for one to one correspondence also! Best part, you can grab these to use in your classroom below. Just fill in the form and I will send them right over to you to use right away!