Each of these tasks will provide a stimulating sensory experience that will develop your students’ fine motor skills, including their coordination, strength, control, spatial awareness and focus. Using play dough provides a wonderful opportunity for students to build strength in their hands and fingers. Pinching, rolling, flattening and shaping play dough to create shapes will help to strengthen the small muscles in the hands and fingers whilst simultaneously developing bilateral coordination, which is essential for daily tasks, such as using tools, tying shoelaces or buttoning shirts. Grasping a toothbrush and using it to scrub away the dirt from the animals’ mouths helps to develop students’ hand strength as they grip the handle and build stamina as they repeat a circular scrubbing motion. Using tongs or tweezers to pick up, move and place pom poms over the image of an animal requires focus, precision, control, hand-eye coordination and a pincer grip. Pouring scoops of food into the animals’ mouths allows students to develop an understanding of spatial awareness and provides the opportunity for them to adjust hand movements to prevent spills.

As students complete the tasks, we recommend asking questions to promote oral language and to determine their understanding. We also recommend making observations of how they engage with and complete the activities, as this will help you to assess their fine motor development. For example, do they show a preference for using one hand, are they applying a pincer grip when holding tweezers, are they able to control their hand movements to prevent spills, do they adjust their hand movements if they miss the target, do they use both hands effectively together, are their movements smooth and controlled, can they complete the task at a reasonable pace, and can they switch hands when required?

In addition to fine motor development, these activities provide the opportunity to build literacy and maths skills. For example, an adult helper can ask students to share the initial sounds of the animals they see or have them count and compare the animals’ legs.

It's time to work at the zoo!