Finding fun activities for hot summer days can be challenging, but these simple games and activities are great for helping children work on fine motor skills. The summer months offer the opportunity to try new things—and for children with special needs to engage in fine motor skills activities that are both fun and challenging.
5 Summer Activities: Working on Fine Motor Skills
Check out these fun ideas to beat the heat and work on fine motor skills:
Squirt Gun Painting
Fill your favorite squirt gun with liquid watercolors, use an easel, or secure a piece of watercolor paper onto a tree or post and spray away to create instant art! Clean-up for your art crew is also a blast. Simply turn on the hose or run through the sprinkler (adapted from Fireflies and Mudpies).
Chalk It Up
Use sidewalk chalk for drawing outside on a driveway or other cemented area such as a playground or patio. Fill a bucket with water and add various tools: eye dropper, turkey baster, squirt guns, spray bottles, small plastic watering cans, sponges, etc. Use one or more of the water tools to make silly changes to the chalk art or wash it away. Great for building fine motor skills and promoting pinch and hand strength (adapted from Therapy Fun Zone).
Go on an Ice Dig
Freeze a bucket of water with added objects suspended in the ice block. This activity is great for visual perception as well as fine motor and hand strength skills and is sure to keep your kiddos enthralled as they “dig out” their treasures from the block of ice (adapted from Your Kid’s Table).
Sensory Jell-o Fun
For indoor fun, make a large batch of Jell-O® in a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet. Just as the gel starts to thicken, add a few small toys and other manipulatives (bingo chips, small plastic figurines, etc.) so they will suspend in the mold. Great for kids with low vision or more severe cognitive impairments for touch, smell (and even taste!) sensory input. Supervise accordingly with the small parts (adapted from Wonder Baby.org).
Sand and Water Sensory Play
To keep a group of busy hands active, check out the ChildBrite Mobile Mite. Fill with water or Model ‘N Mold Sand, and add your favorite water and sand tools for instant portable sensory play.
More Special Needs Activities & Ideas
If you’re looking for more ideas and inspiration for children with special needs, check out the other Schoolyard articles on our Special Needs page. We have activities, self-regulation tools, study tips, and more!
