Fine motor skills (or, the skills children develop as they learn to coordinate their hands and fingers with their eyes) are an incredibly important part of child development. Because of this, many children’s toys are created with development in mind. Lucky for the kiddos, these toys are also really fun! Here are some of Little Lion’s favorites, as well as some that are currently on our wishlist and some that I would love to get for him later in the future!

1. Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Boppin’ Activity Bugs – I don’t think a generation has gone by that hasn’t had some version of this toy. This one develops fine motor skills and also teaches babies cause and effect!

2. Plan Toy Punch and Drop – This is one of Little Lion’s favorite toys! He figured out how to put the balls in the holes pretty early on, and would push on them until they went in the holes. Later, he developed enough coordination to use the mallet to pound the balls through the holes.

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3. Plan Toy Nuts and Bolts – Twisting and turning is a tough skill for little hands to master! I love that these little bolts are chunky enough for small hands to hold.

4. Plan Toy Geometric Sorting Board – Little Lion loves this toy! Not only does it give him an opportunity to develop his fine motor skills, it also teaches categorizing of shapes. Much to my surprise, once I did the first one of each shape, it wasn’t long before he was able to do it on his own!

5. Plan Toy Stacking Ring – This toy develops more than just fine motor skills and also helps toddlers experiment with sorting by size.

6. Screwblock Activity Set – This one is a more advanced twisting toy. It also gives the opportunity for color matching!

7. Grimm’s Spiel Rainbow Stacker – This toy is so cool! Not only is it beautiful, but it can be stacked many different ways. While baby is developing fine motor skills with this toy, they are also learning about size and balance.

8. Hape First Shapes Puzzle – Basic chunky puzzles like this one make great first puzzles for babies and toddlers. The handles are easy for little ones to grasp, and their fine motor skills are developed as they learn to turn the shapes to fit in the hole. They also are learning matching by finding the right location for each piece. I love that the handles of these pieces are the same shape of the piece itself, adding another tactile way of learning since the child can feel the shape with his/her hand while she works to fit it into the correct hole.

9. Melissa & Doug Model and Mold Tools – Modeling dough is another awesome fine motor activity for toddlers and preschoolers. Squishing and squeezing work the little muscles in their hands, and this set of tools opens up lots of opportunities to create in different ways. I love the different textures that the rolling pins and stamps will help kids create in their dough!

10. Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! – Another fun engineering toy for the older crowd that continues to work those little muscles!

11. Melissa & Doug Stacking Train – Another classic toy! The pieces are interchangeable, so they are easy for toddlers to put together (although to put them all together correctly will require some help!).

12. Melissa & Doug Caterpillar Gear Toy – Another toy that teaches multiple skills. Babies will develop their fine motor skills as they learn to put the pieces onto the caterpillar. Eventually they will develop the wrist control needed to spin the gears. They also will learn to match the gears to the correct color location.

13. Lauri Tall-Stacker Pegs Building Set – Even bigger kids need practice with their fine motor skills. The tiny muscles in their hands are critical for handwriting in the school years, and being able to insert the pegs into the small holes hones these skills. This toy is lots of fun for the preschool crowd! It also has an added bonus, with some problem solving and engineering thrown in for good measure.