The toddler years can be such a blast as your child with Down Syndrome learns, explores and gains some independence.  These years are also a time for explosive growth in development in many areas including fine motor skills.

Hey Mama Bears, full disclosure here. There are affiliate links in this post so if you click on the link and buy the product I will earn a small commission. Now that we’re clear on that let’s get back to rocking life with special needs!

What are fine motor skills?

Fine motor skills are the small movements of the hands and fingers that are used in activities like writing, eating, and buttoning. Things such as sensation, bilateral coordination, and stability impact fine motor skills. Occupational therapists work with patients to improve fine motor skills. 

Why are fine motor skills important?

When you stop to think about it we use our hands a lot! Fine motor skills allow us to feed ourselves, bathe, groom, and dress ourselves, as well as allow us to write and type. All important things we do throughout our day!

How does having Down Syndrome impact a child’s fine motor skills?

It’s important to note that every child with Down Syndrome is unique with their own individual strengths and needs. All children with or without Down Syndrome develop fine motor skills at their own pace.

There are some commonalities of Down Syndrome that can affect a child’s fine motor skills development. Understanding how and why having Down Syndrome may impact your child’s fine motor skills can help you create activities that will help improve their fine motor skills and recognize when an adaptation may need to be made. 

The book Fine Motor Skills For Children With Down Syndrome talks about those commonalities. By the way, this book is a great resource! Here’s a brief overview.

Hypotonia - Hypotonia or low muscle tone means lower than normal tension in the muscles. In kids with Down Syndrome hypotonia impacts all the muscles including their hands, decreasing their strength and stability. As you can imagine this makes it harder for a child to do things such as grip a pencil or grasp a zipper and pull it up to zip a jacket. 

Ligament and Joint Laxity - The muscles are lower in tone and ligaments supporting the joints are looser. This allows for more movement at the joints also known as ligamentous laxity. This is why many of our kids are so flexible but this also makes it harder to perform precise movements of the hand. 

Shorter Limbs/Smaller hands - Many individuals with Down Syndrome have shorter arms and legs relative to their torso. In general, the hands of a kid with Down Syndrome are smaller and the fingers shorter. This makes it more difficult to grasp and hold larger objects. Furthermore, activities that require a larger finger span such as typing  are more difficult. 

Toys To Help Your Toddler With Down Syndrome Improve Fine Motor Skills

When Max was younger I was always on the lookout for toys and activities that would help him learn and master skills while keeping things super fun and interesting.  

Today Mama Bear, I’m going to share with you some of our favorite toys to work on fine motor skills for the toddler years. Not only am I going to share a few of my favorites, I'm going to give you ideas on how to use the toys to help YOUR toddler with Down Syndrome rock those fine motor skills!

Now remember Mama Bears, as with anything I write on this blog, think about and take what would work for your child with special needs and family. Don’t worry about the stuff that doesn’t.  We are all unique with different strengths, areas of need, values, and opinions. 

What works for one will not work for all. 

Toys For Fine Motor Skills #1

12 Piece Wooden Shape Sorter

Why the Mathe crew loved it: This shape sorter is a perfect addition to any toy collection aimed at improving fine motor skills!  It can be used in so many ways.  

Your child will improve hand eye coordination by seeing the shape and using their hands to pick it up. They will improve fine motor skills by learning to pick up blocks of various shapes and then voluntarily releasing them. They will  improve critical thinking skills by finding the correct shape and figuring out how to manipulate it so it will drop through the correct cut out. We used this toy to help Max learn his shapes and colors too! It’s such a great toy!

Ideas on how to use the toy to help your child with Down Syndrome improve fine motor skills:

Easy: Take the top off the sorter and scatter the shapes around it.  Let your child simply practice picking up the shapes and dropping them into the sorter. They make a super fun “clunk” sound when dropped in. Max loved this and would giggle every time he heard it.  I would often say “clunk” in a funny voice as the shape landed to make it even more fun and exciting for him.  

You may have to help your child pick up the shapes and release them by utilizing hand over hand assistance depending on their fine motor skills. Hand over hand assistance is where you place your hands over your child’s to physically help them complete a movement. 

Once all the shapes are in the sorter let your child pick it up and dump them out.  Don’t be surprised if your toddler thinks this is the BEST part.  

In the Middle: Scatter the shapes around the sorter and make sure the lid is on. Have your child pick up a shape and ask them what the shape is. Once they’ve correctly identified the shape, help them find the correct cut out on the sorter to put the shape in the sorter.

When first starting out with this activity your child will likely need you to tell them what the shape is and may need help adjusting the shape to fit the cut out. As your child improves, take a step back and let them do more on their own. 

Harder: Scatter the shapes around the sorter and make sure the lid is on.  Ask your child to find the blue star. When they do ask them to put it in the sorter.  When your child can follow one step commands well and you're working on two step commands, ask them to find the blue star and put it in the sorter at the same time. 

Toys For Fine Motor Skills #2

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank

Why the Mathe crew loved it: Another awesome toy to add to your collection to rock those hand skills! This toy helps with grasping. They have to pick up the coin and it really helps develop that pincer grasp as they put the coin into the slot of the piggy bank. 

It works on hand eye coordination as they have to line the coin up with the slot in the piggy to drop it in. It also helps them learn to  isolate their pointer finger to open the piggy’s belly to get the coins out. We used this toy as well to learn our colors and to learn how to count.  Max absolutely loved the noises this piggy made as well as the songs!

Ideas on how to use the toy to help your child with DS improve fine motor skills

Easy: Hand your child a coin, help them line up the coin and drop it into the slot. Show your child how to push the pig's nose and dance to the music. Open the piggy’s belly and let your child get the coins out.

In the middle: Scatter the coins around the piggy bank. Have your child pick the coin up and drop it into the slot.  Help if needed but try to let them do it as independently as possible.  

Harder: Scatter the coins around the piggy bank. Tell your child the piggy is hungry for three coins.  Have your child pick up the coins and drop them into the slot counting as they do so. Once they have fed the piggy three coins have them open up the piggy’s belly and take them out.  As they are taking them out you can have them count them again or identify the color of the coin.  

Toys For Fine Motor Skills #3

Wooden Blocks

Why the Mathe crew loved it: Wooden blocks are classic.  They’ve been around for a while for a reason Mama Bears!  They’re great in so many ways! Your toddler will improve their fine motor skills by working on grasping and voluntary release of an object.  They will improve their coordination as they learn how to stack blocks and problem solving skills as they figure out how to stack higher and higher.

Blocks encourage creativity as they start to think outside the box and build things other than just a tower.  These wooden blocks have numbers and letters on them to practice number and letter recognition!

Ideas on how to use the toy to help your child with DS improve fine motor skills:

Easy: Build a block tower and let your child knock it down!  Count as you add a block to the stack.

In the middle: Have your child independently stack blocks.  See how many he can stack before they fall!

Harder: Build something such as a pyramid of blocks and have your child try to copy it independently with their own blocks. 

Toys For Fine Motor Skills #4

Play Dough And Tools

Why the Mathe crew love it: Play-doh is great for helping strengthen little hands.  Roll it, pull it, pinch it, and smash it!  All those things are super duper fun for little ones and are great exercise for hand muscles.  Utilize fun play-doh tools to further practice fine motor skills and improve strength.  Get creative and encourage imaginative play.  Make cookies and pies and have a tea party. I would advise pretending to eat your creations!

Ideas on how to use the toy to help your child with DS improve fine motor skills:

Easy: Have your child practice rolling the play-doh into a ball and then smash it flat.  Super fun stuff!  You can also have your child roll the play-doh into a hot dog shape and then pinch it all the way up and down.

In the middle: Mix fun things such as beads and small animals into the play dough.  Have your child use their fingers to find them.  

Harder: Roll the play-doh into the shape of a snake.  Have your child use the play-doh scissors to cut it into pieces.  Your child can also use the play-dog knife to cut it.  This is a great way to introduce cutting skills!

Toys For Fine Motor Skills #5

Snap (Pop) Beads

Why the Mathe crew love it: These large snap beads are a great way to develop bilateral coordination in your little one! Bilateral coordination means both sides of the brain are communicating, which is always a good thing!  Those snap beads can be tough to put together and pull apart so they were a great way for Max to strengthen his little hands!

Ideas on how to use the toy to help your child with Down Syndrome improve fine motor skills:

Easy: Snap a bunch of beads together and while holding it have your child remove the snap bead on the end until all the beads are apart.  Make a fun noise when they remove the end bead to make it extra fun!

In the middle: Have your child snap the beads together.  You can have them make a “necklace” or “bracelet” for Mommy or themselves!

Harder: Snap a line of beads together but do a color pattern such as red, yellow, blue.  Have your child copy the pattern with their own snap beads.  

There you have it Mama Bears!  

Five toys the Mathe crew used and loved to help Max rock those fine motor skills in the toddler years.  Go raid your toy box as I am sure you probably have at least one or two of the toys we mentioned.  

If you enjoyed this blog post then be sure to check out…

Teaching Sign Language To Your Child With Down Syndrome

Dandelion Tribe Takeaway: The Mathe crew loves these toys for helping little ones rock those OT skills.  #1 Twelve Piece Wooden Shape Sorter #2 Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank #3 Wooden Blocks #4 Play Dough and Tools #5 Snap (Pop) Beads.

Mama Bear Share: Which toys do YOU love to help develop OT skills?