Developing fine motor skills (or the use of the hands) is an indispensable area of development when it comes to a child’s early years.
Whereas gross motor skills help children to conduct everyday tasks (such as getting out of bed and having breakfast), fine motor skills permit greater independence in smaller but equally important activities: brushing teeth, zipping zippers, washing hands, and opening doors, to name a few.
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Among the numerous and myriad fine motor skills that children will perfect in preschool years are the following abilities:
- Pasting things onto paper
- Clapping hands
- Touching fingers
- Buttoning and unbuttoning
- Working a zipper
- Building a tower of 10 blocks
- Completing puzzles with 5 or more pieces
- Copying a circle or crossing onto a sheet of paper
- Cutting out simple shapes with a safe pair of scissors
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The most optimum way to help in promoting these and other hand-related skills is to provide children with a wide array of materials to improvise as their imagination dictates.
Some good choices include blocks (bristle blocks, Legos, magnetic blocks, construction straws, and Tinker Toys), nontoxic, washable paints and markers, crayons, glue, paste, modelling clay, construction paper, safety scissors, an easel, a smock to prevent staining of their clothes, colouring books, and simple sewing cards. In addition, this is the ideal time for puzzles, musical instruments, and sand and water toys.
These factors need to be considered when it comes to international school admission.
Some of the most efficacious ways of enhancing motor skills during the early years of childhood are mentioned below.
(1) Teach the Pincer Grip
To help children learn to pick up small things using both thumb and index finger, you may stuff an empty baby-wipe container with scarves and then encourage them to pull them out. You may also give children toys comprising dials, knobs, and switches.
(2) Embrace their Obsession with Filling and Dumping
Toddlers are most likely to load each toy they obtain into a bin, only to let it all spill over and then start afresh. While this activity may appear to be dull, it involves cognitive reasoning, concentration, and integrated muscle movements. Additional ways to enhance grip and finger strength include squeezing out a wet sponge or seeking toys that have been buried in sand.
(3) Encourage Stacking
Children need hand and wrist stability to stack blocks with control. Large wooden blocks are the easiest for toddlers to successfully manipulate. Once they get the hang of it, there can be a probable switch to smaller building materials. That said, interlocking bricks need to be kept on hold until children complete 2 years of age. If international school admission is on your mind, Aditya Birla World Academy is your best bet because it gives unrivalled importance to the development of motor skills.
(4) Promote Creativity
Most children can create a mark with a crayon at around 15 months of age and successfully scribble by the age of 2. Larger crayons are ideal for little hands, and they can be given large pieces of chalk as well as finger paints to express themselves thoroughly.
(5) Let them Use Utensils at Their Own Pace
Some children learn the skill of using a spoon or a fork at every meal. That said, if some children make a mess or struggle with these utensils, one must not jump in to assist. Let them learn on their own.
(6) Build on Essential and Basic Skills
With the improvement of dexterity in toddlers, one must encourage them to use both hands to perform new tasks. Have them thread big beads with yarn. Moreover, play games such as “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” to teach them how to work for their hands in tandem.
The Bottom Line
These 6 techniques are highly effective when it comes to teaching preschool and kindergarten-aged children fine motor skills. A child’s mastery of fine motor skills will allow him or her greater independence. Thus, if you are looking for admission to an international school, make sure they cover these techniques in their curriculum.
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