20 December Fine Motor Activities for Morning Tubs

Every year, I say that the number of students lacking fine motor skills continues to grow. Some of this I attribute to the increased use of technology. Our little learners are spending less and less time holding a pencil, coloring with crayons and cutting with scissors. And, they are spending more and more time swiping the screen with their fingers. These December fine motor activities work well for morning work, fine motor tubs or math and literacy centers. Plus, I’ve included a FREE fine motor sorting activity perfect for your math rotations!

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December Fine Motor Activities

I, personally, like to begin each day with fine motor morning tubs. This is a great time to sneak in a little extra fine motor practice!

Plus, I can easily tame the morning chaos…

So that I can focus on the daily morning tasks of taking lunch count and attendance, answering parent questions, collecting notes, comforting students… you know all those many hats we wear as soon as the school bell rings!

Switching from paper and pencil morning work to these fine motor tubs has been a total game changer in terms of engagement!

When the kiddos come into the classroom in the morning, they know to make their lunch choice and to get started on their fine motor morning tub.

They love these hands-on activities! Little do they know they are also practicing letters, sounds, rhyming, CVC words, number recognition, counting, addition, subtraction, subitizing, and so much more!

December Fine Motor Activities for Counting and Number Sense

1. Counting Tree

Small objects, like jingle bells, mini snowflakes, holiday pom poms, mini erasers , are great for strengthening pincer grasp.

2. Sticker Tree

Peeling stickers is another great way to practice precise pincer grasp. Use dot stickers, or any other kind of stickers, as ornaments on the tree for this activity.

3. Candy Cane Count

Although paperclips can be a bit tricky for young children, they are a fantastic fine motor tool to add to your collection. Students can use the paperclips to make the correct number of stripes on each candy cane.

4. Trim the Tree

Rolling, pinching and stretching Play-Doh to make ornaments and trim the tree is another way to improve fine motor development.

5. Orderly Ornaments

Use mini clothespins to help strengthen little fingers, as they squeeze and clip the ornaments in numerical order.

6. Button Count

Picking up and placing small buttons on the gingerbread man requires a great deal of fine motor control.

December Fine Motor Activities for Patterns and Shapes

7. Ornament Patterns

Create and extend patterns using pom poms and Gator Grabber Tweezers. Squeezing tweezers helps strengthen finger muscles needed for proper pencil grip and scissor cutting.

8. Pattern Block Pictures

Pattern Blocks are an excellent tool for building visual-spatial relationships and eye-hand coordination, which are both an important part of building fine motor skills.