Activities to Strengthen Your Child's Fine Motor Skills

 

Fine motor skills are responsible for many of our everyday activities from enjoying our favourite pasta to catching up with our friends over social media. To help your child develop the small muscles found in their hands and feet, there are many activities that you can do together. 

 

We have partnered with a pre-prep school in Hertfordshire to share a list of activities that you can do with your child to strengthen their fine motor skills.

1.       Watering the Plants

By getting your child to do a spot of gardening, you can help promote the development of their hand muscles. All you need to do is fill up a clean spray bottle with water for them to spray away.

2.            Climbing

We don’t mean Everest but climbing stairs or a climbing frame. Working the upper body to climb can help your child to strengthen the muscles in their arms. This will help develop the strength needed to pull themselves up without requiring help. When practicing, always be there to supervise your child and be a few steps away in case help is needed.

3.            Transferring Objects 

Moving objects from one bowl to another will keep your child occupied for some time while they practice their pinching skills. You can use objects like marbles or beads for this activity to help them practice.

4.            Learning to Tie Shoelaces

Teaching your child to tie their shoelaces not only saves you a job in the morning but helps your child to work on their hand-eye coordination and how to pincer. Start by showing them how to feed their laces through and guide them a few times before setting them off on the challenge of doing it for themselves.

5.            Finger Painting

Not only is it good fun and creative, but it teaches your child the skill of pressing. Before trying this out at home, make sure to check safety labels to ensure that paints are safe to be used by your child.

 

**Image source: Pexels.com