Helping Your Child Develop Their Fine Motor Skills

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As adults we often take our fine motor skills for granted, but they’re actually the main reason why we’re able to hold onto objects, be able to write with a pen clearly, and to help us with the majority of our daily tasks. It is pretty amazing to think that we actually start developing these skills when we are just babies and that is why it is crucial to help your own child build their fine motor skills too. 

For children it’s paramount that they learn these skills early on, and it can be done in a number of rewarding and fun ways that will keep your child stimulated and happy. Here are just some if the ways you can help your child, from this boarding school in Berkshire. 

Through creative play

Playing with toys and making time for games are the ways that children learn how to use a lot of different parts of their hands, fingers and arms. They’re able to look at how to hold toys, interact with them and also feel a lot of different textures that toys have to unlock a child’s sensory skills. 

Plastic cups, bouncing balls and soft toys that have different materials around them (like silk tags or squeakers) will let your child explore through their hands and fingers and improve their motor skills by themselves. 

Water play 

Another way of letting your child use their fine motor skills is through water play. When they’re at toddler age they can use cups to fill with water and pour away, an example of showing them how the weight of something will alter how you hold it. You can even buy water-based learning sets to help your child with their hand-eye coordination. 

As they grow older they’ll be able to visit a swimming pool. Even going to the paddling pool area will give your child new tests, especially with water slides and climbing frames to explore. Swimming strokes also give your child a chance to hone their technique in the water and to improve their muscle memory. 

Arts and crafts 

There are so many ways your child can learn through making art or making something using crafts. If they’re learning to sew, a child’s hand will need to be steady as they push through the fabric and add thread to their needle. When painting, they’ll need to learn how to hold a brush with precision as it moves across the canvas. Using pipe cleaners, glue, glitter and paper will allow them to feel a whole range of different textures as they make their creations. 

They’re using a variety of different methods to hold and grab onto crafts, paint and more as they use their creativity and inquisitiveness, improving their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills at the same time. 

LEGO

Lego is such a classic toy, one that even parents and grandparent will probably have such fond memories of playing with. It is such a simple concept, plastic bricks that clip together but there is just something about Lego that opens up the imagination and transports you into a different world of building and fun. But behind all the fun, Lego is actually a fantastic toy for helping build those fine motor skills (as well as many other great skills) too. Of course you need to be mindful of the brick sizes depending on a childs age, but whether its the large chunky sets, smaller bricks, Lego sets or just a tub full of bricks and their imagination, they all work to develop those fine motor skills and imagination! 

The most important thing to remember is to stay relaxed and keep it fun. Kids often learn best when they are relaxed, playing and often when they don't even realise they are doing it. Switch up the activities and move on if your child doesn't seem to enjoy something. 

What activities have you found your children love that help build their fine motor skills? Let me know in the comments below. 

xXx

**This is a collaborative post.**