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The festive season will soon be upon us and in our latest blog, we’ve put together some fun, festive activities which will help with developing gross and fine motor skills. 

These activities also provide the opportunity to develop other skills, including body awareness and tactile discrimination.

1. Make Your Own Snowman 

Fill an empty 500ml water or another drink bottle with scrunched-up white paper or white pom poms. If you are using pom poms, you can increase the level of difficulty by using plastic tweezers to pick up the pom poms and drop them into the bottle. 

When the bottle is full, close the lid and use stickers, buttons and cardboard cutouts to add facial features and other decorations.

Great for: Developing fine motor skills, motor planning, bilateral coordination and tactile discrimination.

2. Tissue Christmas Tree 

Draw or print the outline of a Christmas tree or get your child to draw or copy one. Then rip and squish tissue paper into balls to stick on the tree. 

Decorate the tree with stickers or cut out shapes to finish off.

Great for: Developing hand strength, fine motor coordination and visual motor coordination. 

3. Giant Gingerbread Person

Get your child to lie down on a big sheet of paper and draw around them. Get them to colour or paint the inside of the shape and decorate it like a gingerbread person of their choice.

Great for: Developing body awareness, visual motor integration and fine motor skills

4. Reindeer Marble Run

Cut out a reindeer face and stick it to a vertical surface. Then use old empty toilet rolls to build a marble run representing the antlers. This can be as simple or complex as the child wishes it to be.

Great for: Developing visual motor integration, motor planning and fine motor skills.

5. Beaded Candy Cane

Use a pipe cleaner (white or red) and bend into the shape of a candy cane. Then alternatively thread through red and white (or pink and green or any other favourite colour combination). 

On completion, this can also be used as a Christmas tree decoration.

Great for: Developing fine motor skills, visual discrimination and visual motor coordination.