What are Fine Motor Skills? How to Develop Them in a Child

As a parent, watching, monitoring, and understanding all that's going on in your child's development can be overwhelming. Children change so rapidly and every child develops at different paces, making it difficult to know what to expect and how to help.

There are tons of skills and developmental milestones in early childhood, and this article will help you understand one specific developmental domain: fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills refer to the ability to use, move, coordinate, and control small muscles in the hands, wrists, and fingers. Fine motor development also includes visual motor skills like hand eye coordination.

Why Does Your Child Need to Develop Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are critical for many daily tasks and play activities.

Think about your day today. Did you use a pincer grasp on a pen to write something down or sign your name? Did you use your finger tips to close plastic baggies when packing your lunch? How about when you zipped up your jacket? We complete all kinds of fine motor tasks without even realizing the impact of these everyday skills.

Fine motor skills are necessary for self-care and independence as well. Everyday tasks like opening and closing containers, putting toothpaste on a toothbrush, or tying shoelaces require fine motor control.

How to Develop Fine Motor Skills

Similar to other critical aspects of child development, much of how fine motor skills are learned and strengthened happens through play. That means you can help your child's fine motor skill development simply by playing with them! Throughout this article I'll share information about developmental benchmarks as well as fine motor activities and materials you can use to support your child in reaching them.

When to Start Developing Fine Motor Skills

There are some fine motor developmental milestones you can look out for, based on your child's age, but remember that all children learn and grow differently. Even within your own family, different children may develop the same skill at different ages.

If you notice that your child is having difficulty with fine motor skills, lacking hand and finger strength, or if you have any concerns at all, talk with your pediatrician or child care provider. They can often help with a referral for further evaluation by an occupational therapist.

Infants

Infants start developing fine motor skills at birth. For the first few months, fine motor movements are reflexive, meaning the infant has no control over them. For example, a newborn may grab hold of your finger.

Birth to 3 months:

• Reflexive grasp: Infants will automatically grasp an object placed in their hand.

• Hand to face: They start bringing their hands to their mouth and face.

• Random swatting: They may bat at objects hanging above them, though it's not precise.

4 to 6 months:

• Reaching and grabbing: Infants will deliberately reach for and grasp objects within their reach.

• Raking grasp: They use their fingers to rake and pull objects closer.

• Transferring objects: They can pass toys or objects from one hand to the other.

7 to 9 months:

• Pincer grasp: Infants start picking up small objects using their thumb and index finger.

• Bang objects: They can bang toys or objects together.

• Clapping hands: They may clap their hands together, but it might be clumsy.

10 to 12 months:

• Improved pincer grasp: The pincer grasp becomes more refined, allowing them to pick up smaller items.

• Fine hand-eye coordination: They can place objects into containers with relative accuracy.

• Scribbling: Infants might begin to make random marks on paper with a crayon or marker.

Toddlers

Toddlerhood encompasses several different ages and is full of developmental changes! Here's what you can expect from 13 months all the way up age 3!

13 to 18 months:

• Turning pages: They can start turning pages of a board book, though they might turn multiple pages at once.

• Stacking blocks: Toddlers can stack a few blocks on top of each other.

• Finger feeding: They can use their fingers to pick up small foods and feed themselves.

19 to 24 months:

• Building towers: They can build higher block towers with better stability.

• Holding utensils: A child may start using spoons or forks to feed themselves, with some spillage.

• Drawing lines: They can make more deliberate marks on paper, scribbling lines or zigzags.

2 to 3 years:

• Improved drawing: Infants begin to draw basic shapes like circles and lines with more control.

• Dressing skills: They can assist with simple dressing tasks like putting on shoes or socks.

• Turning knobs: They learn to turn doorknobs or handles.

Preschool

Preschool fine motor milestones involve the development of more refined hand and finger skills that are necessary for various activities like drawing, writing, using scissors, and manipulating small objects. Keep in mind that each child develops at their own pace, so there can be some variation in achieving these milestones.

3 to 5 years:

Drawing and Writing:

• Controlled scribbling: Children can make more deliberate and controlled marks on paper.
• Basic shapes: They can draw basic shapes like circles, squares, and triangles.
• Recognizable pictures: Their drawings begin to resemble basic objects like people, animals, and houses.

Using Scissors:

• Snipping: Children start to develop scissor skills by snipping paper with scissors using thumb and forefinger.
• Cutting lines and curves: They can cut along straight lines and simple curves.
• Cutting shapes: With improved skills, they can cut out basic shapes like circles or squares.

Manipulating Small Objects:

• Building with blocks: Preschoolers can build more complex structures with blocks.
• Puzzles: They can handle and complete puzzles with larger and more numerous pieces.
• Bead threading: They can string beads onto a lace or string.

Hand-Eye Coordination:

• Drawing within lines: Children can stay within the lines while coloring pictures.
• Tracing: They can trace simple shapes and patterns with improved accuracy.
• Catching and throwing: They can start to catch and throw a ball with some coordination.

Self-Help Skills:

• Dressing: Preschoolers can start dressing and undressing themselves with minimal assistance.
• Using utensils: They can use spoons, forks, and knives with increasing proficiency.
• Buttoning and zipping: They begin to manipulate buttons and zippers on clothing.

Hand Dominance:

• Many preschoolers start to show a preference for using one hand over the other (left-handed or right-handed).

Drawing Representational Art:

• As they approach the age of 5, children may begin to create more detailed and representational artwork, with recognizable people, animals, and objects.

Remember that these milestones are just a general guideline, and there's a wide range of typical development. If you have concerns about your child's fine motor skills, it's always a good idea to consult with a pediatrician or a developmental specialist.

Best Fine Motor Skills Activities

Now that you know more about the why and when, you probably want to know how to support your child in developing fine motor skills. It's important to provide opportunities for the child to engage in activities that support fine motor development, such as coloring, drawing, cutting, and playing with manipulative toys. Encouragement, praise, and patience are key to helping children build their fine motor skills at their own pace.

Toys, Games, and Materials

Depending on their age and ability, the materials you offer children will vary. Be sure to check age recommendations and supervise children closely with all fine motor activities and toys.

General Fine Motor Skills

Rattles

Cause/effect toys like jack-in-the-box, pop-up toys, etc.

Activity boards (pictured above)

Board games

Sorting

Bowls, ice cube trays, or muffin tins

Large plastic tongs for grabbing and manipulating objects

Cotton balls, pom-poms, small animal figures

Puzzles

With and without knobs/handles

Floor size puzzles with large pieces

Lacing and Weaving

Pasta, cereal, or beads on shoelaces, yarn, or sticks (based on your child's ability)

Rubber band geoboards

Beginner weaving loom

Stacking

Small tabletop blocks

Nested cups

Stacking rings

Interlocking

Legos or Duplos

Lincoln Logs

Starbuilders

K'nex

Art Activities

Art and creative expression are perfect ways to help a child use and strengthen fine motor muscles!

Painting

• Fingerpainting

• Increase manual dexterity by painting with brushes, sponges, or non-traditional items like forks, toy cars, or pinecones

Drawing and Coloring

• Developmentally appropriate writing tools - crayons, markers, pens, pencils, paint markers, bingo dot markers

• Scribbling and doodling tip: keep a writing tool and a pad of paper in the car to use on drives!

Modeling

• Clay and play dough with tools like rolling pins, cookie cutters, and plastic silverware

• Tip: Make your own play dough or kinetic sand at home with your child and they'll get extra fine motor practice by holding measuring tools, pouring, and mixing!

• Pipe cleaners - only for older children and with supervision!

Paper Crafts

• Beginner origami

• Cutting straight, zig-zag, and curvy lines

• Paper dolls

• Snowflakes

Stickers

• Peeling, sticking, and unsticking stickers uses a great deal of hand eye coordination, hand and finger strength, and persistence!

Dramatic Play Activities for Fine Motor Skills

These imaginative and creative brain-stimulating play activities are also full of fine motor fun!

• Shadow Puppets

• Hand or Finger Puppet Theater

• Paper Dolls

Language and Literacy Activities for Fine Motor Skills

• Fingerplays (songs with finger movements like Itsy Bitsy Spider)

Music Activities for Fine Motor Skills

• Clapping along to a musical beat

• Instruments - rattles, rhythm sticks, strings and more

• Help your older child make their own musical instruments!

Math and Cognitive Fine Motor Activities

• Patterning - use colored toys, shape blocks, or everyday items (ex. apple, banana, apple, banana, ?)

• Measuring - rulers, measuring tapes, measuring cups

• Sorting - by color, shape, size, etc.

• Counting with one-to-one correspondence - use one finger to point to each item as it is counted

Science and Sensory Fine Motor Activities

• Scooping and pouring sand, water, or other sensory items

• Spraying water bottles

• Planting, digging, and watering flowers

Final Words on Fine Motor Skills

It's incredible how these small muscles have such a big impact on our everyday tasks. I hope this information has you feeling more confident and prepared to help your child build and improve fine motor skills.

Remember to be patient and supportive during these activities. Praise your child's efforts and progress, even if they find certain tasks challenging at first. Children learn and develop at their own pace, so provide a variety of activities and let them explore and enjoy the process of building their fine motor control.