Fine
Motor Skills are
small muscle movements of the fingers that help your child to
perform school readiness activities, such as:
- Painting
with a paintbrush
- Cutting
with scissors
- Drawing
and writing using a pencil, crayon or texta correctly
- Holding
and manipulating small objects
- Holding
and using a knife and fork
- Craft
activities
Being
able to isolate the movement of your fingers can be tricky, especially
when combined with all the other things that are needed for school
skills, such as balance, muscle tone, hand stability and muscle
strength to name a few. It's hard to imagine but it can take a
lot of effort to combine all of these things and then remember
to use the fingers muscles accurately.
Between
the ages of three and five children usually demonstrate rapid
gains in fine motor manipulation, finger dexterity and tool use.
Fine motor skills don't develop overnight but take time, patience
and practice.
The Preschool
Theme team know that learning is easier when it is
fun, so our programs look at developing fine motor skills through
activities that are both fun and creative. On each daily sheet,
fine motor skills are included in a quick 10 minute session; for
you to do in your own time, at your own pace. These skills are
then re-enforced and developed with cutting, coloring, drawing,
and in the advanced version, number and letter development.
Upright
working surfaces can also help to encourage fine motor skills
in your child. These can include chalkboards, painting easels,
magnet boards, the front of the fridge, windows, mirrors and white
boards.
These
surfaces work by encouraging a stable wrist position to develop
good thumb movements, strengthen fine motor muscles and encourage
your child to use both the arm and shoulder muscles.
As
a parent, you can encourage your child to develop these skills
through every day tasks including buttons, using pegs, opening
and closing jars, threading beads and playing with dough. Here
are some more suggestions for developing fine motor skills: 1.
Cutting
2. Matching and Pasting
3. Self-Care Skills
4. Tracing and Coloring
5. Pre-Writing Patterns
6. Dot-to-dots
7. Finger Tracing and Painting
Preschool Gross Motor Skills |
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