• Molding dough is an activity that young children can do to develop fine motor skills.child image by Aidairi from Fotolia.com
  
  Several activities can be done with young children that develops the needed skills to be successful in kindergarten. Many of these activities seem like just "play," but actually build fine motor skills and introduce the concept of reading to a young child. Young children are in a constant state of learning about the world and are connecting things they already know with new information. Help your child by doing activities with him that give him plenty of life experiences to draw upon.
  
  

Read

• Reading has become a goal for kindergarten classrooms in most states. Reading to children familiarize them with concepts such as the way text flows, how to correctly hold a book, the progression of pages, and the recognition that words and text hold meaning. Whereas reading may seem like such a simple, uncomplicated activity, sharing a book with a child is one of the most beneficial things to prepare them academically.
  
  

Recite the alphabet

• Introducing children to the alphabet can be done in many ways. Begin using the letters to make your child's name, identify their sound and sing or recite them. Make tactile letters using a stencil and cotton, sandpaper or macaroni. Young children enjoy the activity and using an additional sense when learning the letter helps him retain the information.
  
  

Craft Time

• Craft time is an excellent activity for a young child to explore their creative side, while sneaking in a little fine motor-skills development. Giving children the opportunity to mold clay helps develop their skills. Challenge a child to use the scissors on the dough, roll it with their fingertips or make designs in the dough using small objects. Gluing small objects to a piece of paper, scrunching paper, and cutting things up also develop these fine motor skills and children love it.
  
  

Make-believe

• Another activity for young children is playing make-believe. Make finger puppets, sock puppets or encourage his acting ability to do this activity. Even just drawing faces on the tips of his fingers will suffice for this activity. Practice his comprehension skills by reading a story and seeing if he can retell the story. Help him pretend to be the main character or hero in the tale.
  
  

Garden

• Give him a reason to play in the dirt by helping him to a plant a simple container garden. Young children are interested in the world around them and enjoy taking care of other things. Teach them responsibility by allowing them to care for something and it helps prepare them for kindergarten by helping them to follow a daily procedure. You are also introducing basic science concepts such as the needs of living things.
  
  

Cook

• Cooking combines science, math and reading skills. Let your child mix, put muffin cups in the pan, and practice measuring dry and wet ingredients. He will be learning something with every recipe. Show him the recipe, count items aloud when adding them and point out changes that happen according to heat. These activities introduces him to concepts that he will be learning when he enters school.