The preschool years are a very important time in the development of fine motor (hand based) skills. The lack of including appropriate activities can impede the future development of independent living. This is particularly true with individuals that suffer from diagnoses including autism, cerebral palsy or any neurodevelopmental disorder.
The exploration of activities can become overwhelming and expensive, but it does not need to be either. If you are a caregiver to an individual needing additional fine motor based activities and not certain what to do. STOP and look to your kitchen for some basic items. Do you have flour? Do you have sugar? Salt? If the answer is Yes …. then you are ready to begin.
Does your special person have any textural concerns? This activity is great for exposure to various tactile items as well. Use a cookie sheet or pan with a lip if wanting to keep the mess isolated to a certain space. Place approximately one cup of flour or salt or sugar on the pan and have the student smooth the powder out over the pan. Now have the student draw in the powder. You may need to do the activity first to set an example of what you would like to see happen. If the pan does not stay in place while the student is working and you have a dedicated therapy area, there is an easy remedy. Place a piece of hook tape onto the underside of the pan and place the loop tape onto the table to stabilize the pan while the student is working.
Additional ingredients in the cupboards that make excellent workable items include cornmeal, corn starch and baking soda. All have different textural qualities and are not considered dangerous unless inhaled inadvertently or allergy identified.
A variation to this activity would be a hide and seek game. If drawing at this time is not an option for the student, then place one of the items in a bowl. The bowl and quantity of the textured ingredient needs to be large enough to bury safe treasures in it. Once you have decided on the bowl (with lid), add about 3 – 4 inches of the tactile ingredient. The lid is necessary not only for storage purposes but so the 'treasures' can be shaken and buried. Suggested treasures would be plastic alphabet letters, mini plastic animals ….. anything that is considered safe for your student and would intrigue them enough to want to locate the treasures. Now have the student locate the hidden items. If you happen to be using cornstarch, you could add the activity of 'cleaning' each treasure as it is being removed since cornstarch tends to adhere to everything.
The suggestions are certainly expandable. Just remember that safety should be considered the primary concern when working with any object that is small enough to be placed in the student's mouth.
