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Babies begin to develop fine motor skills as early as one or two months old, and these skills continue to progress into their early school years. Fine motor skills involve the small muscles in our hands, wrists, and fingers, and they’re what allow us to carry out simple tasks like buttoning up a shirt or handling our cutlery at mealtimes. You may notice your baby picking up objects with their thumb and one finger and transferring things from one hand to another – this is an example of them using their fine motor skills.
Since they are used in everyday tasks, we often take fine motor skills for granted, but there are things you can do to help your little one develop these skills so that they become more capable of carrying out certain activities. Here are some suggestions from a pre-prep school in London of activities that you can do with your child to help them develop their fine motor skills.
Holding a pencil or a paintbrush and controlling it across a piece of paper involves fine motor skills, as does cutting with scissors. With that said, it’s worth getting crafty with your kids when possible. Eventually, your child will move on from scribbling to more controlled activities, like neatly writing a sentence.
Lego is great for helping strengthen the small muscles in your child’s hands, because it involves push and pull movements, hand-eye co-ordinations, and generally just handling tiny objects. The same applies to things like jigsaw puzzles and other board games.
Preparing a meal or baking something involves lots of movements with the hands, including pouring, stirring, and measuring. With that said, it’s certainly worth encouraging your child to join you in the kitchen and help out with some meal prep from time to time.
Of course, there are many more activities you can do with your child to help them strengthen their fine motor muscles. Remember that all children develop at different rates, so if your child isn’t quite as advanced as another child their age, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to panic. However, if you are genuinely concerned, don’t hesitate to book an appointment with your GP.
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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