“The development of a child’s Fine Motor Skills is crucial for self esteem, confidence and independence.”

Fine motor skills involve the use of the smaller muscle of the hands, commonly in activities like using pencils, scissors, construction with lego, doing up buttons and opening lunch boxes. Fine motor skills also involve vision, specifically visual motor skills often referred to hand-eye coordination.

These skills are important in most school activities as well as in life in general. Weaknesses in FMS can affect a child’s ability to eat, write legibly, use a computer, as well as turn pages in a book and perform personal care tasks such as dressing and grooming, zipping clothes.

Child’s FMS will develop through everyday actions and at playtime with activities that involve grasping, holding and pressing. They also will perfect the pincer grasp first through feeding and then through play and eventually by dressing themselves.

• Drawing
• Coloring
• Scribbling
• Puzzles
• Building blocks
• Clay moulding
• Board games
• Sponge dabbing

FMS foster the development of the smaller muscles in children’s hand and fingers. The muscle development helps them to hold, grasp, pinch and grip obj ects.

Pre-Primary Teacher