In this video I’m sharing five simple pre-writing activities you can do with your preschooler to help strengthen their hands. These are the kind of activities I love in the early years because they’re calm, practical, and take literally a few seconds to set up—perfect if you’re juggling home life and you just want something that actually gets done. Each one builds fine motor strength in a really natural way, without needing worksheets or a big prep session. I start with transferring pom-poms using tongs (I use the little IKEA play kitchen tongs, but salad tongs work too). Then I show a squirty bottle activity—I used a thoroughly cleaned disinfectant bottle filled with water—where your child squirts the window and wipes it off (fun and you might get clean windows at the same time). After that, I use a lock and key activity with different levels of difficulty, then a simple pegging activity using pegs and cardboard, and finally cutting practice using strips of card (I used paper plates). My main takeaway is that you can easily adjust each activity to your child’s level, and you’ll be strengthening hands ready for writing skills in a gentle, confidence-building way.