Build Fine Motor Skills with these Christmas Toys!
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Christmas is quickly approaching and I have gotten a lot of questions from parents about toys that are fun, but can also help their littles with their development. I recently shared a list of toys that will help with gross motor development and I wanted to share a list of fine motor toys as well. Fine motor development is so important, especially now that I have a toddler! These are the skills that will help him improve his utensil skills, help him get dressed independently, and even learn to write his name. There are plenty of toys that I have found that will have kids strengthening their hand muscles and improving their coordination without even realizing it.
Check out my list below of some of the best fine motor toys for toddlers and how I love to use them!
P.S. You can shop the items on this list by clicking their names or visiting our Amazon Idea List directly right here
- Twisty Droppers/Gator Grabbers/Squeezy Tweezers - This set of fine motor tools are perfect for sensory bin play and are great for building fine motor coordination and helping children learn skills like cutting with scissors.
Freeze small toys into ice cubes and use the twisty droppers to melt ice cubes and find the hidden items inside
Use the gator grabbers to sort colored marbles into bowls
Place dry noodles into a bowl and use the squeezy tweezers to see who can collect the most noodles in one minute
- Design & Drill Bolt Buddies - R has the design & drill spaceship and E has the airplane and they are both OBSESSED! These toys are so great for developing hand-eye coordination and hand strength.
Build hand strength by squeezing the trigger of the drill to screw and unscrew the pieces
Develop hand-eye coordination by placing the screws into their hole
Practice words like “in/out” and “on/off”
- Squeeze Popper - Whether your little likes dinosaurs, farm animals or unicorns, there is a squeeze popper toy for them. Squeeze the toy's belly and shoot foam balls across the room. This toy helps build hand and finger strength while kids have an absolute blast.
See who can shoot the ball the furthest
Develop hand-eye coordination by shooting the ball into the air and see if your little can catch it
- Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog - This little hedgehod is not only adorable, but his removable "spikes" are perfect for building pincer grasp strength that is required for writing and utentsil skills, making the best fine motor Christmas toy!
Work on color identification and sorting by naming the colors as they remove the spikes
Develop dominant and non-dominant hand/finger strength by practicing removing spikes with both hands
Increase hand-eye coordination and speed by seeing who can remove the most spikes in 30 seconds
- Cupcake Shape Sorter - This toy is rated for 3 months + but I have had kiddos up to 5 years old who loved working with this toy in the clinic. This shape sorter builds hand and finger strength as they pull the cupcake apart and improves dexterity as they try to match the shapes and places the pieces back together.
Improve shape recognition by naming the shape on each cupcake
- Farmers Market Color Sorting Set - This adorable toy is a huge hit with my niece! She loves "play food" and this set offers healthy food for her to feed to her baby dolls and is a great toy to help develop her pincer grasp and work on color recognition and color sorting.
Increase the difficulty of this activity by using the squeezy tweezers to sort all of the food
If you have a picky eater this toy can be a great resource to discuss and introduce new foods. Sort and talk about all of the green foods and plan an all green dinner!
These toys are such great resources for parents who are hoping to help their little ones develop their fine motor skills while still having fun. They will have so much fun playing with these toys that they won’t even realize their bodies and brains are learning. All of these toys are open-ended and allow your child to use their imagination to play with them however they like, I love watching all of the unique ways my son comes up with to play with these toys. He always puts his own spin on things!
Let us know which of these you have tried and loved! or any gifts we should add to the list!
