Importance of fine motor skills

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Introduction

Recently, we have performed an exciting activity developing the fine motor skills for 3-5 year olds by using a set of different tools. We used a drill, a screwdriver, a socket wrench, a wrench, and fingers. Atena was playing with this toy for the first time. She surprised us when she came up with out-of-the-box solutions. She used fingers and a palm to screw 4 bolts at once! (check the video part starting from 0:47). As we received questions about the set – we explain that we used Design & Drill® See Through Creative Workshop! This is appropriate to include this task into motor skills activities portfolio for kindergarten or to be done at home.

Why Are Fine Motor Skills So Important?

What are fine motor skills activities?

During the early childhood (0-5 years), the ability to cut with scissors, paint with paintbrush, correctly color with crayons, operate a screwdriver, holding small objects like lego blocks, screws, beads is essential to your child’s development. As I read in the myriads of articles, our child needs to use the hand and finger accurately and precisely to be in line with colleagues in these day-to-day activities. There are, of course, activities that are a must for our little human. Using knife and fork to eat food or tying shoelaces are mandatory fine motor control.

Importance and consequences if not developed

Very often, children who do not catch-up in these activities feel upset and have lower self-esteem. If such issues are not resolved early enough, they can result in deeper mental problems as the kid grows up.

The typical scenario repeats once formal schooling starts. Reasonable control of the hand muscles enables the child to learn and practice handwriting fine motor skills quickly. Additionally, it reduces the stress associated with doing homework or jotting down the notes during the lessons. A lot of smart children falter because disability with pen or pencil control held them back from showing what they are really worth. It can even get worse when that type of struggling turns into a negative attitude toward learning and school. I am a parent who does not want that future for my children, and probably so do you.

Brain is one – let it learn the work

According to the researches, when a child does not have to concentrate fully on its body and is doing everyday activities automatically, its brain has more capacity to focus on what’s really important – learning the work. Through daily activities, I understand proper sitting position, decent walk, appropriate reaction when losing balance, adequate grip of a pencil, proper use of knife and fork, and so on. Quite often, parents are even not aware of the consequences arising from not properly developed body position.

Our observation

Since Atena was born (the birth was perfect, and she was in an ideal shape 😉 ) we have been visiting periodically (3 times a year) a great BOBATH method therapist with more than 20 years experience. She showed us how to carry your child correctly, what to focus on when your child lies down, rolls, crawls, crawl on all fours, stand, tries to make first step, sits and so on. Currently, Atena belongs to the minority in preschool, where the proper body position is a natural thing for her, and her mind can just flourish because she does not have to think about her gross and fine motor skills.

Summary

We encourage you, our dear and lovely parents to pay attention to these activities as poor core stability, lack of strong hand muscles and coordination skills may impact your child’s ability to use the hand and finger muscles effectively.

If you liked this article, you might be interested in our post about creating Tasty Mars. Also, please leave the comment below. We are curious what are your opinions about the importance of fine motor skills.