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I would like to tell you a bit about fine motor skills.
Fine motor skills are that your baby or child is good with their hands, skilful and even coordinated. With fine motor skills they develop by using their hands to explore with playing like with putting a puzzle
piece in play or putting money in a money box, scribbling with a crayon to even stacking blocks on top of each other. There are so many activities that involve fine motor skills and these help to improve find motor skills in other areas such as using scissors to cut something, computers, writing and so on.
Babies
Babies enjoy putting things in their mouth so they will look at a object then pick the object up and put it in there mouths. This is a form of fine motor skills. There will pick up small objects as they get older by using there thumb and index finger and look at it carefully and then can swap it to there other hand, then to placing it down again correctly. This is also fine motor skills.
Toddlers
Toddlers learn to use a spoon and a fork they begin to use it properly. They start to stack blocks, put coins in a money box, turn the pages of a book and put rings on top of each other. They start to learn how to draw by scribbling at first like a dagger and then as they grow older the better it becomes. As they grow they decide which hand they prefer and this is how you determine whether they are right or left handed.
Children
Children tend to have more of a control over objects. They can cut and draw a bit better and they become independent with copying things such as numerical, letters and even shapes or animals. They can colour in a bit better than a toddler because there fine motor skills have progressed in time.
You can join in with your baby or child and help them improve their fine motor skills. Give them toys and books to explore with. Even things like a peg can be entertaining for a toddler to see what it can do.
Play dough is a good fun activity quite easy to make and you can use tools to make shapes out of it.
Sand is a good great way of exploring and making sand castles etc. Water is another by using funnels and jugs to even squirt toys (a lot of fun). Drawing and painting to explore all the colours and different crayons and pencils are good fine motor skills. Finger paintings are fun to do and the child is using there fingers.
Don’t forget to have fun with your child and join in and help explore and encourage those fine motor skills.
(October 2007) (
