Fine Motor Activities – Lolly Stick Sorting

Activity: Children are asked to pick and sort coloured straws or lolly sticks into the correct container or pot. In this way the activity also covers an important maths objective and also allows for language development.

Differentiation:Straws would be used initially as they are easier to pinch between the fingers to pick up. As a child’s fine motor skills develop the activity can easily be made more challenging by swapping straws for lolly sticks which are flatter and require more intricate movement of the finger tips to pick them up off of a surface. Other items that might be used could be buttons or  ‘pick up sticks’ which can be purchased in most good toy stores.