Fine Motor Fun!

Developing a child’s fine motor skills is an important part of preparing your child for school, but what exactly are fine motor skills? They are small movements that use the small muscles of the fingers, toes, wrists, lips, and tongue. These are the motions that allow a person to pick up and hold small items, like pencils and spoons, hold eye contact with an object or a person, and create different vocal sounds and form words with their mouths. These skills will help your child hold a pencil and write, cut with scissors, and perform many of the tasks needed in school.

So how can you, as a parent or caregiver, help your toddler and preschooler build up these skills? Here are some fun activities that you can try:

-Play with play dough! Squeezing, stretching, and creating things with play dough help to build the muscles in your child’s fingers, hands, and wrists.

-Create macaroni necklaces. This activity works the small muscles in your child’s hands, works on hand-eye coordination, and develops their ability to manipulate objects.

-Use clothespins to pin clothes to a line. This will work on their pincher grasp and their hand-eye coordination.

-Drop in to the Centerville Library for some Fine Motor Fun on July 26 from 10:30 – 11:30 AM. This program, created especially for children 18-36 months old and their grown-up, will give you some more ideas for some fun fine motor activities that you can recreate at home!

Guest post by Sarah H.