Best Crafts to Improve Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills are the coordination of the small muscles in the body. Most often, people think about hand and finger movement in conjunction with the eyes. The dexterity we have as people far surpasses many creatures on the planet, but if we don’t improve these skills, they can become unrefined and sloppy. Whether you want to help your child improve their handwriting skills or you want to help your elderly loved ones maintain hand function, crafting is a great way to help. Below we’ll discuss some of the best crafts to improve fine motor skills—it’s both fun and useful!

Beading

Something both children and adults can enjoy, beading involves bilateral coordination (both hands), hand-eye coordination, and more! The work it takes to use the smaller muscles in the fingertips to pick up and grasp beads and weave it onto strings is what makes it such a great craft for those who want to improve fine motor skills. Since beads are available in various shapes and sizes, you can start bigger and refine the skills with practice.

Painting

Now, you may not want to provide your kids with paint, but you can give them water and a paintbrush. Ask them to trace a drawing or the alphabet. For the adult, paint by number is a great way to start off, and then as they get more comfortable, they can paint their own ideas. The confidence that comes from painting and creating something is what makes this craft so wonderful!

Tatting

Tatting, or more simply lacing for younger children, is another great craft to improve fine motor skills. The technique for tatting is making a variety of knots and loops to create a durable lace. This puts a lot of focus on your hand’s dexterity—it’s something you’ll want to start to maintain fine motor skills, not just improve them. For younger children, lacing is as simple as a few holes and some string for them to weave through.

Embroidery

In a similar vein, embroidery is another craft that focuses on your hand’s ability to weave the needle and thread to create an intricate design. These designs can follow a pattern or simply work on stitches to get their hands used to the movements. Use bright colored thread to get the kids more excited about the craft!

Crochet

We’ve said before that needlework is making a comeback, and one of its main forms is crochet. Grab a chunky blend to give their fingers something to grab onto and then get them started on basic looping techniques. This will work on their bilateral skills and their mental math abilities as well. The best part? It’s a craft they can take with them wherever they go, so there’s constant room for improvement.

For all of your crafting needs, turn to Lindley General Store. We have what you need to help the people in your life improve their fine motor skills. From crochet and embroidery needles and thread to tatting supplies in Canada, we want to help in whatever way we can. Peruse our site now and check out all the different ways crafting helps us!