Hello everyone,
I will be doing a series of reviews of resources for the junior classes this week. I will be teaching 5th and 6th class until the end of the year, so many of my posts may focus on these classes for the next while. So, I will do a few reviews of books for the junior end before I get started.
I will begin with the book ‘Fine Motor Skills Development Activities’. I used this book lots while subbing last term. I had planned on reviewing it but I didn’t have time until now.
So first of all, what are fine motor skills? Fine motor skills refers to the child’s abilities to use his or her hands to operate tools accurately. I will give a few examples- lacing and stringing activities, put money in a money box, roll out play dough and using tongs to pick up items.
I used this book while subbing with infants, it was very useful for the Aistear stations. It is also brilliant for the early finishers, particularly the cutting tasks. It is a substantial offering, with 234 pages, and lots of templates.
It is divided into sections as follows:
1. Starter Activities
2. Shoulder and Wrist Activities
3. Wrist and Hand Activities
4. Hand and Finger Activites
5. Scissor Activities
6. Drawing and Writing Activities
7. Printing Practice
There are also checklists which are invaluable for assessment.
One of my favorite parts of this book are the recipes at the back. There are several different play dough recipes. There are also letter and number books at the back which would be excellent for phonics too or just for photocopying as extra work if you are subbing.
This resource can be purchased here: http://www.prim-ed.com/webshop/Infant-Classes/Art-and-Development-Activities/Fine-Motor-Skills
Although I won’t be teaching infants for a while, I still plan to use my copy during my seasonal camps.
Here are some pictures:
As a resource for infants, I would highly recommend this book, particularly if you know you will be teaching them for a lengthy period of time.[pb_builder]