Here's are some tips for improving on fine motor skills, such as handwriting, pressing snap buttons, etc. in children. My son was diagnosed with Asperger's Disease (on the Autism Spectrum) at a very early age. I had noticed that he was having problems, or delays, with his fine motor skills growth. I've had varying degrees of success with these tips but I would suggest that all have resonably helped my son a great deal. The best part is that these tips and games are very easy to incorporate into daily play.
Therapy Putty: Buy some therapy putty. A store like Binson's will have it. Purchase some cheap letters or beads from a craft store (Dollar Stores work great, too). Put the "prizes" in the putty and encourage your child to dig through the putty to find the prizes! Play Dough works reasonably well if you are having a hard time finding therapy putty.
Lite Brite: They still make the 1970's classic toy and the tiny pieces make fine motor skills mastery necessary to make the pictures. I encourage using the stenciled guidelines included with the Lite Brite so the child has to be particular with pieces as opposed to just being random. It really teaches concentration!
Legos: Legos are a great way to improve fine motor skills for obvious reasons. I recommend using the tinier lego sets with the small pieces. Like Lite Brite, I'd try to have the child make a specific plan or design to encourage concentration and sorting.
Electronic Games: My husband has an ancient hand-held Mattel Football Game that still works great. The small buttons give a child a great thumb workout to increase fine motor skills. Any small electronic game with smaller buttons will work and any department store will have some for under $10.
Perfection: Perfection is the old board game where you place pieces into a puzzle before the board "pops up". The pieces have a tiny holder you have to hold in order to put it in the right spot. These tiny pieces make increasing fine motor skills fun.
Stacking: Many parents of Austistic children already know that they are predisposed to naturally enjoy sorting or stacking. Sorting and stacking tiny objects may be a naturally fun way to increase the fine motor skills they may lack due to Autism. I bought several smaller dice (die) and challenged my son to see how high he could stack them. Poker chips and pennies also work well.
I'm guessing many of the toy makers on my tips list didn't envision helping children with Autism with fine motor skills when they created these toys but they certainly help.
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