Improving the fine motor skills of children aged 4-5 year through the Smart Box educational geme tool (APE) TK Islamic Al-Faqih Pilang : Meningkatkan kemampuan motorik halus anak usia 4-5 tahun melalui Alat permainan Edukatif (APE) Smart Box di TK Islam Al-Faqih Pilang

Endang Fatmala (Program Studi Pendidikan Guru Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo)
Choirun Nisak Aulina (Program Studi Pendidikan Guru Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo)

Indonesian Journal of Education Methods Development
Vol. 21 No. 3 (2026): August

General Background: Fine motor skills are an important aspect of early childhood development and require appropriate stimulation through meaningful learning activities. Specific Background: Observations at Al-Ikhsan Islamic Kindergarten showed that several 4–5-year-old children experienced difficulties in holding pencils and opening bottle caps, indicating that their fine motor skills were not yet optimal. Knowledge Gap: Previous studies have examined various activities for supporting fine motor development, while this study focuses on collage activities using simple materials in the specific classroom context. Aims: This study aims to examine the implementation of collage activities and the improvement of fine motor skills among 4–5-year-old children. Results: Classroom action research was conducted in two cycles with 16 children using observation and documentation. Achievement increased from 12.50% in the pre-cycle to 37.50% in Cycle I and 87.50% in Cycle II. The activities involved picking, taking, arranging, and attaching paper scraps, corn kernels, and Dacron to prepared picture patterns. Improvements in Cycle II followed changes in material selection and larger picture patterns, which made the tasks easier for children to perform. Novelty: The study applies collage activities with simple and accessible materials to stimulate fine motor development in children aged 4–5 years at Al-Ikhsan Islamic Kindergarten. Implications: The findings indicate that structured collage activities provide opportunities for children to practice eye-hand coordination, finger strength, and controlled hand movements in early childhood learning. Key Findings Highlights Achievement rose from 12.50% before the intervention to 87.50% after two cycles. Fourteen of 16 participants reached the completion criterion in Cycle II. Larger patterns and easier-to-handle materials supported better task performance. Keywords : Fine Motor Skills, Collage Activities, Early Childhood, Eye-Hand Coordination, Classroom Action Research