Practice and exposure to various toys and materials can develop fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills are activities or tasks that necessitate using small muscles on your fingers, hands, and wrists. These muscles manipulate and coordinate objects with our fingers and hands.

These skills will enable us to manipulate objects such as spoons for self-feeding, buttons or zippers for dressing, toys for play, and pencils for writing or drawing. Practice and exposure to various toys, materials, and food can develop fine motor skills primarily in the following areas:

• Eye-hand coordination: Eye-hand coordination is the ability to synchronise visual input from the eyes with precise motor movements of the hands. It involves the brain’s capacity to process what the eyes see and translate that information into accurate, purposeful actions.

• Finger manipulation: Developing finger manipulation is crucial for tasks that require intricate hand movements. It involves the fine motor control necessary for activities like buttoning a shirt, picking up small objects, or playing a musical instrument.

• Bilateral coordination: Bilateral coordination is the ability to use both sides of the body together in a coordinated manner. It involves tasks that require the integration of movements between the left and right sides, such as crawling, climbing, or riding a bike. Developing bilateral coordination enhances a child’s overall motor skills and body control.

Here are 12 activities to help you get started on improving your child’s fine motor skills:

1. Place Pom Pom Balls into Openings

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger manipulation

2. Fill in the Beads

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger manipulation

3. Insert Pipe Cleaners into Openings

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger manipulation

4. Place Coins into a Piggy Bank

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger manipulation
• Bilateral coordination

5. Place Ice Cream Sticks into Openings

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger manipulation
• Bilateral coordination

6. Stack Legos

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger manipulation
• Bilateral coordination

7. Build Tower Blocks

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger manipulation
• Bilateral coordination

8. Stack Blocks

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Hand and finger manipulation
• Bilateral coordination

9. Thread Beads

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Bilateral coordination
• Hand and finger manipulation

10. Scoop Beads

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Bilateral coordination
• Hand and finger manipulation

11. Putty Presses

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger strength
• Tripod grasps (i.e., to hold a pencil)

12. Fill in Beads with Tweezers

Helps to improve:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Finger strength
• Tripod grasps

By Nuramirah Ismail

Teacher