Fine motor skills involve the use of the small muscles in our hands, wrists, fingers, feet and toes. The movement of these small muscles requires the brain to coordinate between the action and what they can see. This is quite important when it comes to day to day activities like using a knife and fork, doing up zips, buttons, tying laces or writing with a pen/cil.
This is quite important in toddlers and children of early school age. They will begin to develop these muscles and use them to carry out actions like holding, grasping, pressing, gripping etc.
If they are unable to carry out these types of everyday tasks, this could have an impact on their confidence as well as their academic performance.
If your child’s motor skills need fine-tuning, have a look at the list of suggestions below, to help them out:
Painting and drawing
Puzzles
Water or bath time play
Cutting with scissors (supervised)
Beading and threading
Arts and craft
Building blocks/lego
Gardening
The list is not exhaustive but is a great place to start if you are looking for ideas. The activities are all fun and when done over time, should help your child improve their fine motor skills.
