As parents, we often wonder when our child will draw a family picture or write a beautiful card for us. We look forward to these special moments and at times impatiently so! However, children develop and go through many stages in their learning and development which eventually lead to them mastering writing and drawing, also called fine motor skills. Cultivating your child’s fine motor skills is a vital part of their growth journey. In this article, we’ll explore 10 effective methods to boost child’s fine motor skills. These practical tips and engaging activities will help your child develop the essential abilities needed for various everyday tasks.
Fine Motor Skills:
Fine motor skills are small movements made by our hands, wrists, fingers, toes, tongue, and lips. Those that come so naturally to most of us that they tend to go unnoticed, however, these are some of the most complex actions that involve a coordinated effort between our brain and our muscles. They refer to precision, dexterity, and the coordination of our hands.
Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are built on gross motor skills. The former is used to make smaller, more precise movements with muscles like holding & grasping. The latter is responsible for the coordinated movement of larger muscles and helps in standing, walking, running, and maintaining overall balance.
So, When Does It All Start?
Fine motor skills start developing in infancy and improve as children get older. However, we must remember that children do not develop at the same pace and may reach the same milestones in different ages.
Children begin developing their fine motor skills by completing tasks that aim to improve their muscle control and dexterity. In infancy, this could effectively be a task as simple as holding onto their favourite toy and tugging on it. As toddlers, they learn how to manipulate material with those small muscles by pinching, squeezing, poking, and exploring a wide variety of different resources. It is usually when a child is of preschool age, 3 to 4 years old, that we observe them develop a ‘Tripod Grip’ (Development Matters, 2022). This is a three-finger hold on mark-making material such as a pencil using the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. The achievement of this milestone opens a completely new world of literacy for them as they learn to write their first few words.
Importance of Fine Motor Skills Development
At Toddler Town British Nursery, we aim to support children through their learning journey of developing and improving their fine motor skills through a unique approach to achieving optimal body and brain development. We do this by understanding the needs of each one of our children and then catering to those needs by planning playful and engaging activities, based on their interests. We learn all about our children’s interests by observing them in child-led activities that are thoughtfully and age and stage-appropriately resourced.
To truly understand why fine motor skills are so important, take a minute to visualize how challenging it would be to go through a day wearing a pair of mittens and not be able to take them off to accomplish simple tasks. Children who struggle with poor muscle development in their hands tend to feel this frustration and at times are not able to express it. This is where we as experts’ step in!
Top 10 ways to improve your child’s fine motor skills
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Daily Routine
Children whether infants or young adults, thrive on having daily routines. While play activities may differ from day to day, mealtimes, bath times, and nap times should ideally be set for them. As a career, you can then plan moments in the daily routine where you challenge your child to exercise their fine motor skills, at times unconsciously. Using mealtimes to pick up finger food with a pincer grip, using a bath sponge during bath time to scrub exercising the palmar grasp, and even collecting sticks, stones, and other treasures during nature walks contribute to refining children’s fine motor skills.
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Playdough, Slime, and Everything Gooey!
Messy play, especially that involves playdough, slime, or gloop not only engages children for long periods. But it also helps them strengthen their fine motor skills as they mould, poke, pinch and break the malleable materials making their imagination come to life! Experts, such as Shonette Bason-Wood have even incorporated playdough and music in what she calls ‘Dough Disco’ when she realized that children in her class were struggling to write. Dough Disco stimulates ‘happiness chemicals’ which positively impact children’s memory.
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Mark Making
How many mark-making materials can you name? We all know of the more traditional tools such as pencils, crayons, paint, and markers. But how about feathers, sticks, and best of all our fingers! Mark making in the early years is when we create lines, patterns, or shapes using any tools in any medium- in the sand, shaving foam, and even mud. Every mark is meaningful and has a story to tell. The strength with which a child makes a mark and how they hold their tools tells us what role we can play to help further develop their fine motor skills.
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Water, Water, Everywhere- And Of Course Sand!
The beach is the ultimate spot for setting up fine motor challenges for our children. How can we live in the region and not benefit from it? Playing with water and sand involves critical thinking, problem-solving, and coordination. Filling and emptying containers, mixing different mediums together, and learning about the textures formed not only improve fine motor abilities but also help to lay the foundation for children’s development of emergent mathematics.
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Let’s STEAM- Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math
STEAM, although it may sound complex for little ones, can be simplified to enhance children’s fine motor skills. Activities like Lego building, where they assemble small pieces into bigger structures, refine their pincer grip and small muscle control. When they disassemble these structures, they engage these muscles differently. Creating smaller structures with toothpicks, small blocks, or straws not only improves small muscle control but also expands their understanding of the world around them.
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Finger Gym
Finger gym activities aim at developing control over children’s fine motor skills and their communication and language skills. Finger gym activities would include and incorporate resources such as pegs, beads and thread, tweezers and even finger puppets. This helps with hand-eye coordination and also allows children to independently explore materials, using their imagination and extending the play in whichever direction they please.
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Nature Play and the Big Outdoors
In Dubai, we have about 6 months of good weather, and outdoor activities are crucial for children’s fine motor development. Gardening, using tools like spades and watering cans, and handling pots and pans help build dexterity and refine small muscle movements.
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Scissor Skills
As careers, we are often hesitant to give children scissors. However, there are ways to be careful yet creative with modifications to paper and lines. We support children to learn how to hold the scissors and use them with precision. We are essentially strengthening the same muscles needed for drawing and writing.
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Busy Boards
Busy boards are not only amazing to develop fine motor skills, but they are also very easy and inexpensive to build at home. They are usually a combination of different textures and components- wood, metal, or cloth – sensory components, zips, hooks and nuts and bolts, ties, and sometimes even a bell as a musical component. Busy boards require different finger movements, patterns, and repetition, not only refining fine motor skills but also teaching children about Cause and Effect.
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Loose Parts Play to enhance Child’s Motor Skills
This is essentially open-ended play when children are encouraged to explore and wander independently. We offer loose materials like buttons, beads, and bottle caps, letting them explore without set goals. As they play with items like pom-poms, wooden blocks, and twigs, their hand muscles develop and strengthen naturally.
Ways to Improve Your Child’s Fine Motor Skills
Nurseries and Preschools in Dubai acknowledge and support the importance of developing fine motor skills at an early age. At Toddler Town British Nursery Early Years Practitioners support the development and progress of each child’s fine motor skills. We adapt to their unique needs, guiding them toward successful drawing and writing milestones.
References:
Department of Education United Kingdom (2021) Development Matters. Available at: Development Matters – Non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk) (Accessed:20/12/2022)