Spider Web Game: Fine Motor Skills for 3 – 5 year olds

Fine motor skills involve small muscles working with the brain and nervous system to control movements in areas such as the hands, fingers, lips, tongue and eyes. Developing fine motor skills helps children do things like eating, writing, manipulating objects and getting dressed.

You will need: (resources that are needed)

· Wool or string to make the web

· Toy spiders or other toy bugs

· A basket with holes on the sides

· A pair of large tweezers or a clothes peg

The activity: 

Spider Web Game.

1.      Thread the wool or string back and forth through the holes in the basket. Go in different directions so that it looks like a spider’s web.

2.      Add the spiders or bugs to the bottom of the basket

3.      Show your child how to use the large tweezers or clothes peg to remove a spider from the basket and then invite them to do the same.

How this supports knowledge & development: 

You can use positional language such as on, under, next to and you can take the opportunity to introduce words associated with spiders, e.g. big, small, black, wriggly, creepy, hairy. 

You could also sing the ‘Incey Wincey Spider song’.

Your child will develop their fine and gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination through actions such as holding, grasping, and pinching. It will take focus and well-developed fine motor skills to use the tweezers as your child will need to maintain the pressure in order to keep hold of the spider once they have it in the tweezers.

If they use a clothes peg it will be easier as once they have it locked on, they will not need to maintain the pressure to pull the spider out. If your child is not yet able to use the tweezers, they can use their finger and thumb in a pincer style to reach into the basket and pullout a spider.

Extending the activity: 

• Extend this by counting how many spiders your child has managed to remove from the basket.