Promoting Fine Motor Skills: A Guide for Families
What are fine motor skills?
You may have heard the term “fine motor skills” before, but what does this actually mean? Fine motor skills involve the coordination of small muscles (mostly in the hands and fingers) required for precise movements. We use fine motor skills in everyday tasks such as buttoning clothes, tying shoelaces, zipping up lunch boxes, using utensils to eat meals and drawing/ writing at school.
Occupational Therapy and Fine Motor Skills
An occupational therapist can play a positive role in providing families with ideas for promoting and developing fine motor skills through completing assessments, observations and providing personalised plans which incorporate activities within a child’s daily routine.
Fine motor skill milestones assist occupational therapists to determine the development of these small muscles. If difficulties are noted, therapists can support families with activity ideas to promote development in fun ways within their natural environments. Please note all children develop skills at their own pace however if you have any concerns about your child’s fine motor skill development, consider an appointment with an occupational therapist for a personalised assessment and recommendations.
Ideas to Promote Fine Motor Development:
- Playdough play (rolling, squeezing, pressing, pinching actions, using cutters) all promote strengthening and co-ordination of the small muscles of the hands.
- Drawing and colouring: using shorter, wider pencils/ pens/ crayons help children control their drawing/ colouring as they are learning. Offering this activity in a variety of ways (sitting on the table, lying on the floor, on an easel or paper on the wall). Chalk drawing or water painting on outside walls, or concrete outside is another way to promote fine motor skill development.
- Construction play: using blocks, connector blocks (such as duplo, mega blocks, lego) to create towers or copy designs helps with building small muscles of hands, fingers and promotes wrist movement for manipulate the blocks.
- Threading or lacing: Pick beads that are appropriate size for the age of your child however threading or lacing assists to develop pincer grasp (bringing thumb and index finger together).
- Container play: Opening and closing a range of containers is a great way to improve strength and co-ordination, and brings 2 hands together. Use different size of containers with twist lids, pull lids, clip lids).