Play+Dough-+developing+fine+motor+skills

Young children on the autism spectrum often have difficulty developing the fine-motor skills that lead to eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination and eventually reading and writing. (Hubb 2011). Children should have strength and dexterity in their hands and fingers before being asked to manipulate a pencil on paper. (Hubb 2011) Working on dexterity and strength first can improve the development of an appropriate pencil grasp. ( Lourdes 2007) Children with autism will benefit from activities that support the development of fine motor skills in the hands and fingers

A wonderful teaching tool to encourage children with austism to develop their fine- motor skill is to have them involved in activities using play dough. Play dough is a wonderful tactile medium that can be especially engaging if it smells and feels good. Although play dough is predominantly used in pre school activities, play dough activities can still have a positive influence for older children. If a teacher is uncertain of a child’s progression using a pen then play dough can be a simple 5 minutes a day activity to help children develop their dexterity and strength.

Teachers should condisder fine-motor activities that can be easily adapted and simplified so they can also then be continued at home. Then teachers and parents can gradually add challenges such as making smaller complex shapes. Once a child has experienced success they will continue to be motivated and engage in other fine motor activities. There is no age limit for the using play dough however this should be based on a child’s developmental stage

(Hubb 2011) (Example activities have been listed below)

Some autistic children love touching, smelling and tasting everything, teachers must be cautious in this case and should consider a home made option. This ensures you know exactly what ingredients are in the play dough.

** Fine Motor Activities **


 * Molding and rolling play dough into balls - using the palms of the hands facing each other and with fingers curled slightly towards the palm


 * Rolling play dough into tiny balls (peas) using only the finger tips.


 * Using pegs or toothpicks to make designs in play dough


 * Cutting play dough with a plastic knife or with a pizza wheel by holding the implement in a diagonal volar grasp.

All above references are extracts from [] . Maria Lourdes (2007), //Autism activities// [] Date accessed 18th of July

B Hubb,2011, //Autism: developing fine motor skills// [] Date accessed 18th of July