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Developing Fine Motor Skills
Website Editor • Feb 26, 2020
The development of fine motor skills is one of the main priorities of every parent. In their first years of life, a child learns how to manage in the world, which also means learning how to use their hands for various tasks. But, when it comes to motor skills, paediatric specialists and occupational therapists say that too much technology can be detrimental to the development of these skills in young children.
According to a recent report from the UK, many preschool children struggle to hold pens and pencils properly. “Children are not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago,” paediatric occupational therapist Dr Sally Payne told The Guardian. They lack the fundamental movement skills needed to hold a pen.
While this is concerning, things don’t have to be this way. There are several (fun!) fine motor skill activities to ensure children are able to meet important developmental milestones. These activities can also include the use of technology. So, let us take a closer look at what you can do to make sure that your child develops a healthy set of motor skills.
Playing with Play Dough
Play Dough isn’t just fun for kids, it’s also a great way for children to strengthen the smaller muscles in the hands and fingers. Tracy Le Roux, also known as OT Mom, explains that playing with play dough is a highly sensory experience that develops hand-eye coordination. Manipulating small pieces of dough and using tools to create patterns will develop children’s fine motor skills.
Art with Syringes
Manipulating syringes will also build good hand control and dexterity, so you can use these simple items to make fun activities that will develop great motor skills. Just give your child liquid colours, generous sheets of paper and a syringe. The idea is to use the syringe to draw up the liquid colours that will be then squirted onto the paper.
Water Tracing
This is another great activity to enjoy with your child if you have a small blackboard and some chalk. You will have to write some letters onto the blackboard with the chalk and ask the child to trace them by using a small brush dipped in water. The idea is to make the child follow the lines of each letter with water.
Using a Special Mobile App
As mentioned earlier, technology doesn’t have to be the bad guy when it comes to developing fine motor skills. Among the activities unrolled in this direction, you can also include Scriba Snap, a special app developed for the Android operating system that is designed to help children improve their motor skills. The app works by the child adjusting the pressure in their hand when squeezing different items displayed on the device’s screen. The idea is to apply the right amount of pressure so that the displayed items end up having the same size.
Beading, Sewing, and other similar activities
Any creative activity that involves the use of the hands, like beading, sewing, lacing, painting, drawing, sticking stickers, and so on, should be encouraged. Michelle Walsh, an early childhood trainer and consultant told The Guardian: “Children learn through play … It doesn’t matter what they’re playing. They are learning.”
It is easy and affordable to come up with new and exciting activities of this kind. Children do not always need expensive games and equipment and can develop fine motor skills with everyday items.
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