Ever heard of fine motor-skill development? I’m sure the phrase has crossed parents of young children’s paths at one or other time. But what exactly is it?
A fine motor-skill is any activity which involves the small muscles in the hand.
This could be things such as holding a pencil or cutting with a scissor, fastening a button, building with blocks, opening a packet of sweets or holding a cup.
These are all very important tasks and the efficiency of fine motor-skills greatly improves the quality as well as the speed at which a task can be completed.
Being able to complete tasks efficiently, improves confidence in children, causing them to abandon tasks less, and makes them eager to complete tasks without adult intervention. Confidence in tasks which require fine motor-skills also reduce the child’s need to pursue tasks which require very little fine motor-skills such as playing on an iPad or watching television.
Efficient, developed fine motor-skills provides dexterity necessary for mundane tasks such as tying shoe laces as well as laying the foundation to perform extraordinary tasks such as playing the piano.
But how can we develop fine motor-skills in early childhood?
There are many ways to develop fine motor-skills, these are my personal favourites:
- Playdough
- Finger painting
- Threading
- Colouring in
- Baking
- Gardening
What I love about these activities is that they are FUN. Learning should never feel like a chore.
Wright Learning concentrates greatly on the development of fine motor-skills in the Grade R workbooks, and support the activities in the book with a resource pack of stationery and art supplies necessary to complete activities which promote fine motor-skill development. Check it out here https://www.wrightlearning.co.za/products/grade-r-package-includes-resource-pack
Written by Latoya Wright