Welcome to the world of parenthood, with its never-ending list of worries about your child and their development. Are they sleeping and eating well? Are they developing the skills they need? Take a deep breath, you are doing great. In this article, we will learn about fine motor skills – what they are, what to look for, and how you as a parent can help encourage your child’s development in this important set of skills.

Key Takeaways:

• Fine motor skills involve small muscles in children’s hands and are essential for tasks like writing and self-care
• Encouraging activities that promote hand-eye coordination, such as precise object placement, gripping and using tools, and playing with building blocks will help your child develop fine motor skills
• If you start to notice a delay in your child’s fine motor skills, don’t panic! Stay observant and bring up your concerns with your pediatrician, an occupational therapist, or your child’s teacher so you can encourage these skills together with your "village"

What Are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are an essential aspect of a child's development, enabling them to perform everyday tasks with ease. But what exactly are fine motor skills and why are they important? In this section, we will delve into the definition and types of fine motor skills, including the key skills of pincer grasp, tripod grasp, and precision grasp. By understanding these different types of fine motor skills, parents and caregivers can better support their child's development and growth.

What Are The Different Types Of Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are a set of abilities that involve precise movements of the hands and fingers. These skills include:

• Dexterity: The manipulation of small objects with the hands and fingers, such as picking up small items or turning pages.
• Hand-Eye Coordination: The coordination of visual input with hand movements, such as catching a ball or threading a needle.
• Grip Strength: The strength and control of the muscles in the hands and fingers, necessary for tasks like writing and using utensils.

You also may have read about different “grasp patterns” that children develop as part of their fine motor skill development. There are dozens of different grasp patterns that your child will develop, but three of the most frequently discussed are below:     

• Palmar Grasp (4-6 months): babies are born with a Palmar Reflex, the adorable reflex that makes newborn hands close around anything placed in their palms. However, generally around 4-6 months this reflex is replaced with a voluntary grasp, so babies are able to choose when their hands close around an object
• Pincer Grasp (9-12 months): picking up and holding items between your pointer finger and thumb. Infants being to develop this grasp as early as 6 months old, but many parents report this grasp often develops between 9 and 12 months. Babies continue to refine this grasp in toddlerhood by picking up smaller objects and by picking up items with the tips of their fingers rather than their entire finger pad.
• Tripod Grasp (3 ½ - 4 years old): holding small objects with your thumb, pointer and index finger. This is the grip we use for pens and pencils, and is often preceded by a 'fisted' grasp, where babies and toddlers will hold a crayon or piece of chalk with their whole had and use their arm and should to create scribbes rather than just their hand

Why Are Fine Motor Skills Important For Children?

Fine motor skills are essential for a child’s overall development and growth, as they contribute to a child’s physical, cognitive, and social development. Fine motor skills follow a natural progression, so incorporating these skills in through everyday activities and routines is a great way to help your child reinforce these skills over time. By understanding how these skills develop, we can better support and encourage their growth in our children.

What do fine motor skills “look like” at different ages?

• Infants: Develop through reflexive movements like grasping and sucking.
• Toddlers: Refine skills through activities such as stacking blocks and scribbling.
• Preschoolers: Hone skills by engaging in activities like cutting, coloring, and manipulating small objects.
• School-age children: Further develop skills through intricate tasks like sewing or building complex structures.

When considering how to help your child develop fine motor skills, focus on naturally occurring play activities integrated into their everyday routine. These activities, like playing with building blocks, engaging in crafts, or using scissors, serve as precursor skills for the developmental progression of fine motor skills.

Remember, it's essential to provide a supportive environment and offer encouragement as they engage in these activities. Don’t be discouraged if your child doesn’t immediately engage in a new skill or gets frustrated – it may also take multiple tries to introduce activities with an unfamiliar skill. In another post we also discuss how you can help your child develop resilience from an early age – check it out here!

How Can You Help Your Child Develop Fine Motor Skills?

There are many ways to strengthen these important skills in your child. Let’s dive into some practical tips and techniques to support your child’s fine motor development, and as with all activities with children, make sure to supervise your children at all times!

1. Encourage Play With Small Objects (while supervised!)

• For Infants: picking up small objects like building blocks, mini vehicles, or action figures to encourage play and enhance your child's fine motor skills by helping them practice their pincer grip.
• For Toddlers: Engaging in activities that require hand-eye coordination, like threading open circles onto a string, stacking building blocks, or practicing pouring (dry beans are a great place to start since they’re easier to clean up than water!)
• For Small Children: Sorting and arranging are great activities to reinforce good grasp patterns and build strength. Coloring is another classic activity that has huge benefits for fine motor skills, especially coloring within the lines of an outlined picture

2. Practice Using Household Items

• For Infants: babies are often more interested in our adult-sized household items rather than their own toys. Kitchen utensils with no sharp edges that can be easily washed such as a spatula or wooden spoon are great candidates to help your little one feel involved in the kitchen while practicing grasp patterns.
• For Toddlers: meal time is the perfect time to practice grip strength and coordination. Allow your toddler to stir food (while closely supervised), and try out different utensils and foods while eating to encourage their practice
• For Small Children: supervised cutting is a great activity to build grip strength. Start by showing your child how to hold scissors using their thumb and fingertips. Start with cutting along straight lines before progressing to more complicated curves and shapes.

3. Play With Building Blocks

Building blocks are truly a toy that will grow up with your child – and deliver developmental benefits at every stage!

• For Infants: grasping, holding, and placing blocks build the foundational skills of all fine motor activities. Placing a building block in a baby’s hand is also a great way to measure their Palmar Reflex and Palmar Grasp
• For Toddlers: building larger structures or towers will help your toddler hone their coordination and build on their grasp patterns learned in infancy
• For Small Children: as children grow older, blocks can continue to be used for building structures, often complemented with imaginative play. However children can also using blocks for early literacy activities (using blocks to form the shape of letters).

When Should You Seek Help For Your Child's Fine Motor Skills?

If you begin to notice your child avoiding activities that involve fine motor skills, such as always picking up items with two hands or using exclusively a palm or “whole-hand” grasp rather than a pincer grasp, you may worry your child is falling behind in developing fine motor skills. Your first step is to not panic, as there could be many reasons for this trend. Continue to be observant of your child, and bring up any trends with your pediatrician. They may recommend additional activities to practice with your child, or may refer you to a pediatric occupational therapist. Some school systems (especially at the preschool level) may offer occupational therapy interventions as part of their curriculum, so you can also let your child’s teacher know and see if they have recommendations or referrals.

Final Takeaways

• It’s awesome that you’re reading up on fine motor skills and how you can help your child develop these important skills – keep up the good work!
• Building fine motor skills starts in infancy but carries all the way through to early childhood – consistency is key and so look for opportunities to develop these skills in everyday routine activities you were already planning on doing.
• Montessori building blocks are a great tool at every stage for developing grasp patterns, grip strength, and other important fine motor skills.