Fine motor skills are used throughout a lifetime, so it is important that parents and caregivers encourage these skills from infancy through the adolescent years. Fine motor skills include small movements with the fingers, thumbs, hands and wrists, usually in coordination with the eyes. Suitable activities to increase these skills depend on the child's age and developmental stage.
Instructions
1. Encourage babies to use one arm as they begin reaching out for objects. The reachable object may be a piece of food, a colorful toy or even noisy fabric rings placed on the toes and ankles. Allow the baby to bang and shake loud toys and objects together.
2. Use cans and small items to increase hand and eye coordination. Set cans of various sizes on the floor and place a few toys around them. Encourage the child to pick up the objects and drop them into the cans.
3. Develop fine motor skills with stacking. Use containers, shoe boxes or tissue boxes, and show the child stack smaller items on top of larger ones. Stacking books can also improve these skills.
4. Encourage drawing. Tape big sheets of drawing paper onto a table or kitchen floor. Offer large crayons that fingers can easily grasp. If crayons are not a favorite to draw with, set out a container of large sidewalk chalk and demonstrate how fun it is to draw on the driveway or sidewalk. The use of finger paints can also help develop fine motor skills.
5. Place large, colorful magnetic letters on the refrigerator. The letters can be arranged in ABC order or grouped by color. Maneuvering the letters back and forth using hand and eye coordination can help with development.
6. Encourage beading and sewing. Older kids may enjoy playing video games, typing on the computer and participating in sports. Playing the piano or other musical instruments can help with the development of fine motor skills.
7. Bake cookies or whip together a cake in the kitchen. Stirring in batter, breaking open eggs into a bowl and cutting out cookie shapes will help with hand and eye coordination. These activities will also increase the muscles in the hand and arm.
Tags: hand coordination, help with, motor skills, these skills, Fine motor, fine motor skills, help with development