Fine Motor skills

Developing a child’s fine motor skills at an early age is essential. Fine motor skills toys can be used that use the smaller muscles in the hands. Fine motor toys include Brick Sticks or anything else that needs gripping or moving. On a more simplistic scale, this could be pencils or scissors. Day to day activities can also help to develop fine motor skills such as opening and closing boxes or fastening buttons.

Fine motor skills toys will help to combine a range of different skills bringing them together in order to competently complete a task. How well tuned these fine motor skills are will determine how quickly and effectively a task is completed. These are vital skills that will be required as your child grows up so therefore, fine motor toys are important in their development. Hand-eye coordination plays an important role but is not strictly a fine motor skill.

Many people will be unfamiliar with the term “fine motor skills”. Indeed, it encompasses a wide range of skills that are used in academia, play as well as looking after to yourself. For example, from an early age children will be required to draw, colour and write and this is where pencil skills play a role. Scissors are required for cutting things while in play, skills are required for construction such as with Brick Sticks or in IT use such as using a mouse or touch screen. Naturally, self-care skills are required when it comes to eating, dressing and personal hygiene.

It is important to recognise how important fine motor skills are in a child’s day to day like as well as their time in education. Children who lack these skills may suffer from low self-confidence and academic results may suffer. Fine motor skills toys play a vital role in promoting independence and valuable life skills. Having adequate fine motor skills will impact on how your child can interact within a family environment as well as with peer groups.

It is quite common for parents not to initially recognise if their child is having fine motor difficulties. Some of the first signs may include a child lacking interest in pencils and scissors. This is where other fine motor toys could be used. Many children prefer physical activity to carrying out fiddly finger tasks. While this may not necessarily be a sign of a problem it is worth keeping an eye on.

Children in the modern world also have more of an interest in passive activities such as watching TV or playing on an iPad. In these circumstances, the use of fine motor skills toys should be encouraged that embolden greater interaction. The likelihood is that after they achieve some level of success, they will find these types of toys stimulating.

Here at Sister Sensory, we have a wide range of toys that can help develop your child’s fine motor skills. Our fine motor toys are designed for children of different ages with the objective of improving your child’s skills. Please browse our website or contact us if you have any questions.