Penguin Fine Motor Activity – Free Printable Activity Pages
Penguin Fine Motor Activity – Free Printable Activity Pages
There has been a lot of press lately about children entering school lacking fine motor skills. Occupational therapists and other professionals speculate that it is from a lack of fine motor skill practice and increased screen time for young children. The huge problem with this decrease in fine motor skill ability, is that fine motor skills are SUPER IMPORTANT for everyday tasks that are required for students such as zipping a coat, tying shoes, handwriting and keyboarding to name just a few. In addition, research indicates that fine motor skills play a role in cognition, language development, and early reading. Therefore, it is crucial that children are provided with opportunities for fine motor skill practice throughout the day.
You can start practicing with this Perky Penguin fine motor activity from the Fine Motor Stations Series 1 digital download. Download and print the activity pages below. You will need black film canisters (adult cuts an X at the top for bean insertion) with googly eyes and foam body parts and assorted beans (smaller requires more precision and strength and larger requires less precision and strength). If you do not have any black film canisters, you could use a recycled play dough, coffee or sour cream container and paint it black or cover it with black duct tape.
When you set up the fine motor station, provide the full-page picture of the activity as a visual support so the students can be independent during the task.
Have the children simply work on feeding the penguin(s) as many assorted beans through the top slot as possible. Allow for hand rest breaks or work to increase endurance by feeding them more beans than the child fed them at the last attempt.
Extend the Perky Penguin fine motor activity by playing a game. Roll a die and feed penguins that number of beans. (Make sure to cup hands together and shake the die for arch development.)
The Perky Penguin Fine Motor Activity encourages:
- Finger strength/endurance
- Fine motor coordination and control
- Precision skills
- In-hand manipulation
- Bilateral hand coordination
- Grasp patterns
- Eye-hand coordination skills
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE TWO PAGE PRINTABLE – PERKY PENGUIN FINE MOTOR ACTIVITY.
Check out the complete Fine Motor Stations Series 1 digital download. It includes 25 fun and engaging fine motor activities for children using simple and easily obtained materials. Written by Regina Parsons-Allen, COTA, the activities are designed to be intrinsically motivating and quickly engaging while maintaining child interest. Most items are readily available in schools and home. Suggestions and modifications are provided to be inclusive of many skill levels. FIND OUT MORE.
If you love PENGUINS, check out the Penguin Pencil Challenges. The download includes 40+ visual motor pencil challenges with varying degrees of difficulty (available in color and black and white) with a penguin theme. FIND OUT MORE.
