9 Ways to Improve Your Fine Motor Skills

How is your manual dexterity? Do you have trouble with small movements? Maybe you need to improve your fine motor skills.

These motor skills are those that involve the movements of small muscles and require you to be coordinated with small movements. If you’ve ever admired a work of art or tied your shoes, you’ve admired and used your fine motor skills, and there are ways to improve them.

Activities that Help Improve Your Fine Motor Skills

Most of the time, the development of these skills is something we focus on with children. Adults need to continue to improve their skills and keep their minds and bodies sharp. Here are some things you can do that will help:

Puzzles

Put puzzles together. This is a great way to work your skills and the connection between your mind and hands. You’ll also enjoy the benefits of a break from your work and worry. Find puzzles that fit your skill level. You could have a puzzle that is up to5000 pieces and takes a long time to complete.

Become Artistic

If you’ve loved sketching or drawing when you were younger, you might want to get back into this activity. You could take it a little farther and set up an easel and paints to create some beautiful landscapes. If you’re not particularly artistic, an adult coloring book can be the right way for you to improve your skills while you enjoy the challenge and scenes that bring back memories of coloring as a youngster.

Buy Yourself an Operation Game

One of the fine motor skills you can improve is picking things up using tongs or tweezers. A fun way to improve this skill is to use the game Operation. This game requires you to remove bones from the person on the board without touching the sides of the openings. This is a great way to improve your skills and have some fun at the same time.

Get Crafty with Scissors

Using scissors is a great way to improve the skills of the small muscles in your hands, and scissors are a tool you can use to create some amazing hand-crafted decorations for the holidays. Think of the next birthday or holiday in your life and put your scissors to work to both improve your skills and make some decorations that will be enjoyed by all.

Build Model Cars or Airplanes

Head to your local hobby store and pick up a model vehicle that tickles your fancy. You can make a car, plane, boat, or one of the vehicles from your favorite space movies. Building one of these vehicles puts your hands to work and replaces the activity of building with blocks and Legos that many kids enjoy. You can also buy some paints and add another skill to the mix.

Learn to Knit

While not necessarily the most popular activity, knitting can be a great way to improve your manual dexterity and fine motor skills. Not only can you learn the different stitches and movements of knitting, but you can also create some wonderful blankets, scarves, and garments that your family will love for many years.

Get Out in the Garden

Planting a garden with pretty flowers and plants that you enjoy can be one of the most rewarding activities that you enjoy. This is something that can certainly improve and challenge your skills and let you use your hands and your brain. This is also a great way to do something that takes your mind off the work and worry of your life.

Get in the Kitchen

If gardening isn’t your thing, maybe cooking is. This is a great way to challenge your hands and mind to work together and is something you can enjoy when the cooking is done. If you have small children or grandchildren, let them help with the cooking and cleaning to allow them the chance to improve their fine motor skills as well. You may have a future chef in the family.

Become a Sculptor

Children are taught to create with Play-Doh to improve their skills, but you can do more than this. You can take a sculpting class or enjoy a pottery class where you can learn to spin the wheel and create a beautiful bowl or vase. This can be a lot of fun and offer you an activity where you can eventually showcase your creations around your home for all to see.