Pail and clothespins autism activity : one of my favorite fine motor skills activities!

This is one of my favorite fine motor skills activities for kids with autism. Build fine motor skills with this quick, simple and fun game!

Materials needed :

4 (or more) clothespins (different colors)
a mini pail or basket

What can you teach using this activity?

Build fine motor skills, strength & precision by having your child put the clothespins on the pail and take them off.
Teach colors by asking your child to say each color or to point to a given color, for example, if you say “show me pink”.
Build vocabulary by asking your child to label “clothespins” and “pail”.
Teach receptive language skills by asking your child to point to each item. You could say “show me orange!”, “point to the pail!”, etc. (Note : I tend to make my sentences as easy to understand as possible for the child when I’m building new vocabulary with early learners. I often omit “the” for that reason.)
Add a sensory component (learn how later in this post) by adding some cotton balls to the activity (read details below).

Who is this activity for?

This activity is perfectly adapted to children with autism who need to build their fine motor skills. It is also wonderful for children who are learning to point and need to better control their hand movements and precision.

This is also one of my favorite fine motor activities for toddlers and is adapted to teaching fine motor skills to all children – with or without special needs. Use it with one or more children at a time.

It is also one of my fine motor activities that I teach to classroom teachers and home therapists alike when I coach.

Why this is about to become one of your favorite fine motor activities too

You already have these materials lying around your home. (Who doesn’t have a little bucket or basket and some clothespins in their home?)

Add a sensory component to this activity

To add an extra sensory component, and an additional level of fun, to this activity, just add some cotton balls to the your mini bucket. Pour them out on the table or floor and ask your child to use the clothespins to pick them up, one by one, and put them all in the bucket like I did in this cotton balls and clothespins activity.