We rely on fine motor skills to use our hands, feet and wrists for activities every day. These skills are needed to coordinate movements in our small muscle tissues and are developed through practice.
A Quaker school in the UK shares a list of fun activities that you can do with your child to help develop their fine motor skills below.
- Jig-Saw Puzzle
Puzzles are made up of lots of small picture pieces that require creativity and problem-solving skills to arrange. What you didn’t possibly know was that they are an excellent way to exercise fine motor skills when picking up pieces, gripping them and pressing them down to lock into one another.
- Drum set
A toy drum set can help your child to also practice their holding and gripping skills. The loud noises create a rewarding and satisfying way for your child to exercise them.
- Colouring In
Precision is needed when colouring in to avoid spilling outside of the lines while holding the crayon upright and steady. This might be challenging for your child to do alone at first so you may want to act as a guide until they feel comfortable and confident enough to hold their own crayon.
- Painting
Similarly, you can also paint with your child. You might want to bear in mind that this is a messier alternative and will require child-safe paints to avoid causing any potential irritation.
- Putty
Putty is a fun, gloopy mix that is fun to squeeze and press. It comes in lots of different colours to keep your child engaged and helps to work those essential pressing movements. You can also use kinetic sand which requires the same fine motor skills but make sure to take note of the recommended age of use.
