K-4 Fine Motor Skill Work

I've compiled the most popular fine motor skill work that I used with my elementary students during the 4 years that I taught special education. Like most teachers, I did not have a big budget for my classroom. With my husband in med school while I was teaching, I didn't have a lot of money to spend on materials. Almost all of these work sets are $5 or less. As mentioned above, I used these with elementary students, but many of them are appropriate or are easily adaptable for preschool, middle school, and high school students as well as adults.

Unless stated otherwise, all photographs in this hub are copyrighted by me, Rose Clearfield. Please contact me if you would like permission to use any of them. Thank you!

Sorting by color and/or shape: Make sure that you choose sorting materials that are age appropriate. I would only use the bears with preschool or elementary students.

Puzzles (different sizes/materials): I have cardboard, foam, and wooden puzzles. Most of the cardboard puzzles are $4 24 piece puzzles from Target and Wal-Mart. My students love puzzles with movie and/or TV characters and any sort of vehicles. The pictured foam alphabet puzzle is a $1 letter/numbers set from Wal-Mart. Target has some fairly inexpensive ($10 or less) wooden puzzles, too. While the movie/TV puzzles are always a big hit, I also have a number of puzzles like the foam one that work on educational skills such as numbers and letters.

Buttons/snaps: I wrote a separate hub for my shapes with button/snap closures so I won't elaborate more here.

Screws/bolts: Small packs of screws/bolts in assorted sizes are readily available at any hardware store for a couple dollars.

Folding towels/washcloths: I got a pack of washcloths in assorted colors (there are just a few of them pictured here) from Target. They usually cost about $4 per pack. I also bought the towels at Target on sale for about $2 each.

Sorting washcloths: I have had several students with autism that really enjoyed this sorting work. They love the different colors and the texture of the washcloths. I took pictures of each washcloth and taped them to the inside of a box lid.  If you have access to a washer/dryer in your school, see if you can have your students do any laundry for the school (i.e. staff work room towels, gym towels) and have them fold it when they've finished.

Screw tops: Inexpensive travel containers with a variety of tops are available at Target and Wal-Mart in the travel sized item sections.

Assembling flashlights: A couple of my students were a little hard on the first flashlight set so this is the second one I've bought in the last four years.  I got this combo set at Wal-Mart for less than $5 so I won't be too upset if it doesn't last forever.  The instant gratification of having them light up when they're put together properly is priceless.  I labeled the batteries with arrows to indicate which way they should go in the flashlights.

Sorting silverware: Silverware sorters are pretty cheap (less than $5) at any big box store.  Check garage sales or thrift stores for old silverware.  I've had students practice setting the table, too.

Assembling ball point pens: I sort the different parts of the pens into different containers as I did here. Most students have a preference for the order that they assemble them so they can arrange the containers however they like.

Assembling toiletry kits: While you're in the travel sized section looking for screw top bottles, you can also pick up everything that you need for these toiletry kits.  Each one consists of a travel sized toothpaste and a toothbrush that goes into a toothbrush holder.  My students put the items into Ziplock bags, but you can upgrade to something more sophisticated.

Stuffing envelopes: If you can find an opportunity in the school or the community for your students to stuff, label/stamp, and/or sort envelopes, that is great.  I created this little set of cards with larger than normal envelopes for my students to use in my classroom, too.

Lacing/sewing: I inherited this kit in my special education classroom, but there is a similar one available here.

Latch Hook: Although this may seem like a stretch for special education students, I have taught a few of my students how to latch hook and they've really enjoyed it. Even students on the more severe end of the autism spectrum who needed hand over hand support, particularly when they started, enjoyed the motion and the feeling and colors of the yarn.  There are a handful of kits for younger latch hookers at Hobby Lobby.