VWB Blog Are your kid’s fine motor skills lacking?
As the way we interact with the world evolves, so too do the skills necessary to keep up. One way children learn to adapt and thrive in the modern world is by exploring their environments through their hands.
Fortunately, building fine motor skills in kids doesn’t have to be laborious but fun. Here is what you need to know about developing these important skills.
Allow Your Child to Help With Meals
Start by offering them simple tasks such as picking out the right ingredients or helping to measure them. With more practice and supervision, you can move on to letting your child pour ingredients into the bowl or help stir the mixture.
To build up even more confidence and skills, offer your child a chance to create their own dish or help with one of your favorite recipes. If your child knows how to use a knife, allow them to cut up fruit or other simple ingredients for recipes.
Allow Children to Try Getting Dressed on Their Own
When it comes to helping your child develop fine motor skills, one activity that can be beneficial for them is to allow them to try getting dressed on their own. This can teach your child how to coordinate their body in order to manipulate small objects like buckles and buttons.
In addition, you can help your child by asking them to pick out their clothing for the day. This activity will help encourage them to use their fine motor skills to grab and pick up items to get dressed. Furthermore, you can always provide positive reinforcement when they are able to get dressed on their own.
Consider Pediatric Occupational Therapy
Pediatric occupational therapy provides a comprehensive approach to improving children’s fine motor skills, such as hand-eye coordination, handwriting, and fine motor dexterity.
Occupational therapists use activities that enable children to practice movements in order to increase their ability to coordinate their movements. They may also introduce adaptive equipment, such as scissors with larger handles, and encourage children to practice manipulating objects with their hands.
Encourage Writing and Drawing
To help your child improve fine motor skills and encourage writing and drawing, start with making the process as fun as possible. Offer them access to a wide range of materials for drawing, such as crayons, markers, colored pencils, and paints.
Allow them to practice on scrap paper instead of expensive art supplies; this will help them gain confidence before trying their ideas on a piece of finished artwork. Writing can come in the form of games such as tic-tac-toe or hangman.
Play Board Games and Puzzles With Them
Playing board games and puzzles with your child is a great way to help improve their fine motor skills. Through these activities, your child is able to develop and practice the dexterity and visual perception needed to move their extremities in the right way.
During these activities, your child also develops self-control and patience – important skills for both children and adults. When playing board games, encourage your child to manipulate the pieces and roll the dice with their hands.
Learn to Improve Fine Motor Skills
A child’s fine motor skills help them carry out everyday activities. With proper practice and perseverance, parents can help their children gain better control of their small muscles. By teaching them to build, cut, draw, fold, and button, parents can ensure their children have the skills to function independently.
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