Strawberry Activities for Preschool Fine Motor Fitness

by Kelly Pfeiffer

Fresh strawberries offer bunches of opportunities for preschoolers to pick, prepare and eat strawberries in a variety of ways that develop fine motor skills. Use one or all of these simple activities that promote muscular strength in the small muscles in the hands.

Fine motor skills help preschoolers perform independent living skills such as dressing, eating and cooking as well as pre-writing and writing skills. Though the activities seem simple, the benefits are many when preschoolers use their fine motor skills to pick, hold, slice, thread and print with strawberries.

Strawberry Activities for Preschool Fine Motor Fitness

1. Pick Strawberries – Preschoolers must hold on tight with several hand muscles while they pull strawberries from the vine.

2. Teach Preschoolers How to Use a Strawberry Huller – Show and give verbal instructions to preschoolers about how to remove the green top off of the strawberry. Strawberry hullers are simply small tongs just the right size for scooping into the top of the strawberry and pulling out the green top. Hulling strawberries develops and strengthens the pincer grasp, used when a preschooler pinches with their thumb and index finger.

3. Show Preschoolers How to Slice Strawberries – Give preschoolers either a plastic knife or a dull butter knife and show them how to slice strawberries. When preschoolers have to grasp a knife handle tightly and accurately press down to slice, they are developing wrist strength, hand strength and finger strength, all part of healthy fine motor development. As well, preschoolers will develop eye hand coordination while slicing strawberries.

4. Eat Strawberries with Toothpicks – Preschoolers will improve their pincer grasp by stabbing and eating strawberries with toothpicks. Another option is to give preschoolers two toothpicks each and encourage them to use two toothpicks to pick up the strawberries and eat them.

5. Eat Strawberries with Chopsticks – Find chopsticks made for kids and give them out as a fun way to eat strawberries. Child chopsticks are joined together either with rubber bands or the chopsticks are made as one solid piece.

6. Make Strawberry Kabobs – Preschoolers will use fine motor skills holding a kabob stick and threading strawberries onto the stick. Use other fruits and talk about patterns with preschoolers.

7. Dip Strawberries – Preschoolers will use either a pincer grasp or a tripod grasp to hold strawberries while they dip them into whipped cream or powdered sugar.

8. Thread Strawberries onto Dental Floss to Eat – Cut dental floss to a length of 28”. Thread each piece of floss through a large needlepoint needle or large plastic needle. Bring both ends of floss together and tie a large knot. Thread a 1” square of ribbon, cardboard paper or cloth onto the needle and pull it on the floss so that it covers the knot. (The strawberries will slip past the knot in the floss if you don’t place something over the knot first.) Let preschoolers push the needle through the center of each strawberry. After preschoolers have threaded on all of their strawberries, they can eat the berries off of the floss by holding the floss by both ends. Be prepared with plates under the berries and napkins to wipe faces.

9. Make Strawberry Prints – Show preschoolers how to slice a big strawberry in half. Next show preschoolers how to hold half of the strawberry and dip the sliced side into paint and make a print on paper or cloth. Making strawberry prints will develop wrist strength and the tripod grasp. For older preschoolers, mount paper or fabric to a wall or easel to make strawberry prints. Working on a vertical surface develops wrist muscles and the muscles in the top of the hand.

More Strawberry Activities on PreschoolRock.com

Celebrate Strawberries - Preschool Strawberry Activities

Strawberry Yogurt Crepes - Preschool Cooking Recipe

---

Like this article? Get more like it in your inbox. Subscribe today to our free weekly newsletter.