Homeschool activities for fine motor skills can be lots of fun. Even though we are probably only homeschooling from next year, we decided to start now already. And fine motor skills are something that the boys need a lot of help with.

What’s the Deal with Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are needed for lots of things. The most important uses for kids are obviously for writing and drawing. And not to mention playing with Lego! I believe this is one of the best parts of being a child!

Another important use is for dressing and for doing things like brushing teeth. As parents, we try very hard to encourage independence. And dressing and brushing teeth are a big part of this. It’s a combination of making our lives easier and also allowing our kids to do their own thing.

Engaging the Kids during Homeschool Activities

Our kids are dino mad! They have about a hundred dinosaur figurines. The boys can name and properly pronounce most dinosaurs. They have dino PJs and dino sheets. And not to mention the hours and hours of dinosaur documentaries they watch with glee. It was a no brainer that our first foray into homeschool would be dino-themed.

Prepping for Homeschool Activities

As I mentioned in a previous post, in order to do anything successfully, we need to prep the boys.  They feel more secure when they now what is coming. Below are some steps we always follow:

1. Tell them about what is going to happen the night before.
2. Remind them on the morning.
3. Give them a schedule of what is going to happen. First we are going to have breakfast, then we’re going to brush our teeth, then we’re going to get dressed and then we’re going to start with our dinosaur activities.
4. Make sure they have a good protein-rich breakfast. Try and avoid anything too sugary.

Four in One Dinosaur-themed Fine Motor Skills Activity

To practice fine motor skills, we designed a super easy four in one dino-themed activity. The kids were thrilled to get going as soon as they saw it.

Part 1

My husband had drawn a large T-Rex and Brachiosaurus on A3 pieces of paper. He drew the outline with dots. Part A of the activity was asking them about the dinosaurs. We asked what they ate and when they lived. Part B was  joining the dots and this is the first part of the fine motor skills activity. We made sure the kids held their pens correctly as they tend to go back to the clutching grip quite often.

Part 2

Part 2 involved colouring in the dinosaurs. Once again, this is great for fine motor skills. I’m a believer of thinking outside of the box and not colouring in the lines, but they need to be able to manipulate their pens correctly.

Part 3

Part 3 was for cutting out the dinosaur. This involves some serious fine motor skills and Dominic got quite frustrated. But we encouraged him and he managed in the end. Oscar loves cutting and had a ball. He cut off the head of the dinosaur but we saved him with some tape. Disaster averted!

Part 4

The last part of the activity was for pegging. They gave their dinosaurs some peg spikes on their backs. The kids were delighted because these dinosaurs don’t officially have spikes. For the rest of the day, they carried their dinos around. They even tucked them into bed with them.

Learning Lessons from our Fine Motor Skills Homeschool Activity

As a first attempt of many homeschool activities, I think it was an overall success. It showed that the kids can be engaged and that we can offer them something unique and interesting. Their attention span is very short but we rolled with it. We brought them back with questions and a few activities thought out on the fly. I think it’s so important to make sure they enjoy the process so that we can achieve our goals.

I would love to hear about your first homeschool activity. Was it a success? Any hints and tips?