Fine Motor Resources

Looking for hands-on, engaging ways to build fine motor strength in young learners? Pom Pom Fine Motor Activities are a teacher favourite—for good reason! Whether you’re supporting pencil grip, hand-eye coordination, or number skills, pom poms offer a colourful, tactile way to help children build essential early learning skills through play.

This page is your one-stop hub for all our Pom Pom Fine Motor Activities—from printables to sorting mats, counting games, and more.

Why Pom Poms?

Pom poms are an incredibly versatile classroom tool. They’re soft, safe, and easy to grip with tongs, tweezers or fingers, making them perfect for:

• Developing hand strength and finger dexterity
• Practising bilateral coordination (using both hands)
• Encouraging one-to-one correspondence
• Supporting visual discrimination and patterning
• Making maths learning multisensory

Learn more about fine motor development from Kid Sense Child Development

What Are Fine Motor Skills—and Why Do They Matter?

Fine motor skills involve the small muscles in the hands and fingers that allow children to grasp, pinch, hold, and manipulate objects. These are essential for tasks like writing, cutting, doing up buttons, and using utensils. Pom Pom Fine Motor Activities help build these muscles in fun, low-pressure ways.

Early years students often struggle with:

• Pencil control and grip strength
• Fatigue during writing tasks
• Inaccurate hand-eye coordination
• Frustration with tasks that require precision

Regular pom pom activities are a playful way to address these difficulties.

What to Look For in Student Development

As students engage with tweezers and pompoms, look for the following positive signs of progress:

• A functional pincer grip (thumb and finger working together)
• Smooth, controlled hand movements
• Confidence in picking up and placing small items
• Recognition and verbalisation of numbers 0–30
• Sustained attention during the task

Common Difficulties Students May Experience

Some students may:

• Hold tweezers with a whole-hand (palmar) grip
• Use their shoulder or wrist instead of isolating finger movements
• Avoid fine motor tasks due to frustration
• Struggle to match colours or form number shapes
• Show fatigue or lose interest quickly

These challenges are typical in the early years. With repeated, low-pressure exposure, most students show steady improvement over time.

Pom Pom Activities for Number, Shape and Phonics Learning

Our collection of Pom Pom Fine Motor Activities is designed to support early learning through purposeful play. These hands-on resources target key concepts in literacy and numeracy while building fine motor strength and coordination—all aligned with the Australian Curriculum v9 and EYLF Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 4, and 5.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s included:

Number Recognition & Counting (0–30)

Students use tweezers or fingers to place the correct number of pom poms on numeral mats, supporting:

• One-to-one correspondence
• Number sense
• Cardinality
  Curriculum link: AC9MFN01 – name, represent and order numbers to at least 20.

More, Less & Comparing Quantities

Children explore concepts of quantity using visual supports and pom pom counters to show “more than,” “less than,” or “equal to.”
Curriculum link: AC9MFN02 – compare, order and match collections.

2D Shape Building & Recognition

Pom poms are used to trace and fill shapes, encouraging children to recognise, name and manipulate 2D shapes while strengthening pincer grip and spatial awareness.
Curriculum link: AC9M1SP01 – recognise, sort and name familiar shapes.

Subitising & Visual Patterning

Quick-look dot arrangements help children subitise and match pom poms to quantities without counting every time—essential for early number fluency.
Curriculum link: AC9MFN03 – subitise and connect quantities with numbers.

Colour Sorting & Matching

Use pom poms to match colours to templates or sort into groups, supporting visual discrimination, early classification skills and vocabulary development.
EYLF link: Outcome 5 – Children engage with symbols and patterns in their environment.

Alphabet Matching (A–Z)

Pair pom poms to beginning letter sounds, upper- and lowercase letters, or phoneme mats to reinforce phonemic awareness while building hand strength.
Curriculum link: AC9EFLY09 – recognise and match letters with sounds.

Phonics & Sound Activities

Use pom poms to isolate, identify and build CVC words, segment sounds, or complete initial/final sound mats. Perfect for Foundation phonics instruction and early decoding skills.
Curriculum link: AC9EFLY10 – blend and segment sounds in spoken words for reading and spelling.

These activities aren’t just engaging—they’re strategic. Every printable is designed to support students in mastering key literacy and numeracy skills while developing fine motor precision needed for writing.

How to Use Pom Pom Activities in the Classroom

Pom Pom Fine Motor Activities are perfect for embedding into your daily routines, centres, or small group rotations. Whether you’re working in a Foundation classroom, preschool setting, or an intervention program, these resources are flexible and easy to adapt.

Here are some ideas for getting started:

Set Up Fine Motor Stations

Create dedicated fine motor stations where students can practise a targeted skill such as counting, letter matching, or shape recognition. Use the printables on clipboards, trays or in clear sleeves and pair them with:

• Jumbo or regular tweezers
• Tongs or scoops
• Pom poms in a range of sizes and colours

Rotate activities weekly to keep engagement high and build different skills over time.

Browse More Fine Motor Activities

Use Play Trays for Open-Ended Exploration

Incorporate pom pom activities into play trays or tuff trays with:

• A themed printable mat (e.g. shapes, numbers, letters)
• Pom poms for filling, sorting, or matching
• Additional sensory materials such as rice, sand, or felt shapes

Play trays encourage exploration, collaboration, and child-led learning while still targeting fine motor goals.

Integrate into Morning Tubs or Warm-Ups

Set up morning tubs or table tasks as students arrive with pom pom fine motor activities that are easy to complete independently. This builds routine while giving students a purposeful task to focus on.

Use for Targeted Support or OT Goals

These activities are ideal for supporting individual students who need extra help developing fine motor control or letter/number recognition. They can be easily used in small group work, with an aide, or even sent home for family engagement.

All activities in the collection are low-prep, print-and-go, and adaptable for multiple learners. Just print, add your pom poms and tools, and you’re ready to go.

Explore the full range of activities and see how easy it is to bring fine motor development into everyday learning.

Build Skills Without the Stress

Pom Pom Fine Motor Activities are loved by educators because they combine learning with play—no worksheets required. You’ll be supporting:

• Grip strength
• Focus and attention
• Counting and number skills
• Sorting and classifying
• Creativity and persistence

Ready to Get Started?

Click below to browse our full collection of Pom Pom Fine Motor Activities for the early years classroom.