What Is Fine Motor Skill: How To Develop Them In A Child

Fine motor skills are essential in a child's development. They refer to the coordinated movements of hands and fingers, which are precise and targeted. It is often emphasized how important it is to develop fine motor skills, but what are the reasons behind it, what effects may such classes bring, and how can they be conducted? In this article, we will explore what fine motor skills are and how to develop fine motor skills.

Why Does Your Child Need to Develop Fine Motor Skills?

The human brain is designed in such a way that the speech zones and the projections of the hands are located close to each other. With this relationship, it can be observed that as hands and fingers develop faster, a child's speech becomes better. Fine motor skills play a crucial role in mastering the functions of the speech apparatus.

Moreover, group training of fine motor skills contributes to the socialization of a child. These classes are conducted in a playful, exciting, and informative way. During such training, children learn behavior patterns, social norms, and psychological attitudes. They gain invaluable skills to absorb and process information, which allows them to do well in school later.

Calligraphy is another field where fine motor skills are crucial. It increases academic performance, which is impossible without actively developing fine motor skills. A child with a developed hand can hold a pen more confidently and will be able to enter all the necessary strokes to write letters.

The development of fine motor skills has a positive effect not only on speech but also on imagination, cognitive function, ability to observe, and visual and auditory memory. Thus, we can speak about the comprehensive development of a child with the help of methods of influencing the motor functions of a hand.

How to Develop Fine Motor Skills

The fine motor skills of a five-year-old and a baby are significantly different. Infant fine motor skills activities will be different. Babies are just learning how to control their hands, with just a grasping reflex. Later, it is transformed into a purposeful gesture that allows a child to reach his favorite rattle, and then get on his feet.

At the infantile age, fine motor skills develop due to tactile perception. A baby happily swipes objects with different textures with his fingers and learns to recognize information that he gets via his feelings. At this time, a powerful foundation is being laid for further development and a fulfilling life, as the ability to feel an object's texture with our fingertips allows us to navigate in the dark, play musical instruments, etc.

The timeline for fine motor skills development is as follows:

• At the end of the first year of life, a baby tightly holds small objects, knocks toys on hard surfaces, and knows how to disassemble and assemble a pyramid.

• From 2 to 3 years of age, palm movements are actively developing, and then a thumb and index finger grip appears.

• At 3-4 years old, a baby's hand movements are well-coordinated and aimed at performing a specific task. He can draw for a long time, sculpt, button and undo clothes with buttons for a long time.

• From the age of 5, a child can easily cope with a zipper, tie shoelaces, can untie a knot on his own, work with scissors, draw straight lines and geometric shapes.

Also: How To Teach Logical Thinking To A Child: 7 Ways

When to Start Developing Fine Motor Skills

Activity for fine motor skills is very useful for a child. You need to start them from birth. During the first month of life, a baby's hands are almost permanently clenched into fists due to hypertonicity. Over the next 2-3 months, a palm gradually loosens. To speed up this process and relieve overstrain, you should massage your baby’s hands, paying special attention to the palms. However, do not overdo with unclenching a fist – this should be done easily, without effort, and only if a baby feels fine with it.

Rub the palm, hand, bend fingers one by one, massage joints, and shake a hand in the air. Repeat the massage every day at the same time, preferably in the morning.

When a baby learns to grab a rattle or hold your finger, gently pull for it (or a toy), as if taking it away. Let him learn to control his hand and train his grip strength. In the next section we will give examples of fine motor skills.

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Best Activities for Developing Fine Motor Skills

How to help a child with fine motor skills development? It is known that any science presented in a game form is a joy. And the motor function's development is not an exception. We advise you to alternate activities so the child does not get bored. For example, you can schedule one type of activity until the child has mastered it, and then move on to another.

Here are some examples of fine motor skills that can help develop them:

Finger Painting

Finger painting is a good activity for fine motor skills development. Buy finger paints, a large sheet of paper, and spread them out in front of a child. Show them how to dip their fingers alternately in paint and water, how to leave colorful handprints, make waves, circles, dots on paper. It doesn't matter if the child gets stained with paint – its composition is absolutely safe for the skin.

Modeling

Modeling is a simple example of an activity for development of fine motor skills. You can mold clay, dough, polymer clay, etc. There are whole sets for modeling different figures and creating three-dimensional paintings. Involve the whole family in this activity, model stories from cartoons, and play scenes with character figures.

Lacing

You can buy ready-made toys and books with lacing. They are made of wood or thick cardboard, and they have a variety of options for fixing laces, the presence of beads, ties, and other elements. You can make a lacing toy yourself. To do this, you need a drill to punch several holes in a board and “lace up” them with bright laces. During the game, give the child the task to untie the laces before the deadline.

Cereals

A mixture of cereals of different varieties is an excellent tutorial to develop motor skills in babies. You can fill a small pad with it, which a child will rub with their fingers, you can make a three-dimensional picture using glue, or arrange a dry pool for hands. You can also mix two types of cereals like peas and buckwheat and race each other to separate one from the other.

Paper Crafts

This includes applications, origami, scrapbooking, quilling and carving snowflakes for the New Year. Children love to tinker with paper, this is the most "grateful" material for crafts. In addition, it is multi-textured: embossed, silky, metallic, porous, matte, glossy paper, corrugated cardboard, etc. During these classes you will develop not only fine motor skills in your child but also artistic taste, imagination and creativity.

Weaving

You can weave jewelry, toys, and decor. Popular materials for weaving are beads, laces, seed beads, and small rubber bands. Develop the design of an accessory with your child, and draw a color scheme. Schedule weaving to a specific date, for example, for a grandmother's birthday, and then give her an original gift.

Puzzles

In addition to the classic ones, there are three-dimensional (3d), textured (velour, cork, wood, Japanese paper), holographic and fluorescent puzzles. The size of the pieces and the picture determines the complexity of the work. The more complex it is, the stronger the developing effect. The main thing is that a child gets interested in the plot of an image.

Shadow and Puppet Theater

No accessories are needed to play with shadows – just fold the figures with your fingers and play scenes with your child. For a puppet show, you will need props in the form of toys put on your hand. You can sew them yourself – there are enough examples of patterns available online.

Also: How To Raise a Bilingual Child

Cooking

Helping adults prepare food is a very effective method of developing fine motor skills. There is always something to do in the kitchen: mold something from dough, peel boiled eggs from the shell, sort out berries. In addition, a little cook assistance is relevant every day and does not require additional time. Just sit a child somewhere nearby, give a feasible task, and do your cooking.

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Fine motor skills are important in a child's development. They play a crucial role in speech, socialization, and academic performance. It is essential to start developing them from birth and to engage in various activities that can help with this development. Finger painting, modeling, lacing, cereals, paper crafts, weaving, puzzles, shadow and puppet theater, and cooking are some examples of activities that can help develop fine motor skills. By engaging in these activities, not only will children develop fine motor skills, but they will also have fun and learn valuable skills that will help them later in life.