Want to boost pencil grip over the summer? Fine motor letter grab is your game.
Fine motor letter grab is an activity that helps preschoolers with pencil grip by strengthening hand muscles.
Grab the jumbo tongs. Easy setup and a hands-on way to review the alphabet!
At Days with Grey, we like to pump the brakes on writing letters and first build finger and hand strength. Taking this time for ideas like this to build fine motor strength is a big piece of the end game.
The big picture is that we want children to enjoy learning and hit milestones over time. (not before a child shows signs of readiness)
Pushing writing letters before their hands are ready is like driving a car with no gas. We don’t get very far if we don’t add what’s needed to help it go the distance.
RELATED: I put together 50+ Fine Motor Activities for Kids.
Jumbo tweezers are a great fine motor tool.
But that doesn’t mean they are always a home run with young children.
One of the reasons jumbo tongs help strengthen small hands is because they are difficult to squeeze. The effort and movement create strength.
What we do NOT want is to create frustration around an activity.
RELATED: I walk you through what this means in our workshop called WONDER; Playing to Learn.
So what do we do?
We offer jumbo tweezers with activities and keep them within reach of other toys.
We allow our children to explore the fine motor tool and put it down when they lose interest.
Picking up small objects with their pointer and thumb is another way to improve fine motor skills. So we can encourage that too!
Introduce, offer encouragement, and allow your child to take the lead.
PRO TIP: Kitchen tongs also work well. Check it out in Egg Drop and The Claw.
Do you need alphabet letters to play?
I like to keep alphabet toys within our collection of other toys for my toddler and preschooler to understand what the different letters look like.
Here, my four-year-old is playing with alphabet lacing letters, which are found in our alphabet toy list. (and also supplies down below)
But like most preschool activities you see here, we can play this fine motor game in several ways:
- pom poms
- counting bears
- Legos
RELATED: Cutting is another great way to improve fine motor skills.
I call this “Rescue the Alphabet.”
My pitch to welcome my preschooler into the alphabet activity was that the letters needed help returning to thier ship. (the blue container)
This reminded me a lot of the book Alphabet Adventure.
We use this storyline for many preschool activities. In most cases, it is saving bears from lava. Here are some of our favorite ideas using jumbo tweezers:
Supply List
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- white paper roll
- markers (or crayons)
- alphabet lacing letters
- jumbo tweezers (share the extra tweezers with birthday gifts!)
Ready to play? Fine Motor Letter Grab is a win!
