A child's fine motor skills are the precise, fine, controlled and coordinated movements of his hands and fingers. The development of this dexterity prepares him to make gestures in daily life. And this, above all, allows him to favour the acquisition of prehension for a better control and coordination of fingers, hands and eyes. This is why it is essential to accompany the child, from an early age, in the development and evolution of his fine motor skills.
To this end, Kidlee has selected some great activities that will help children practice and develop their finger agility, wrist flexibility and hand-eye coordination.
What is the difference between motor skills and fine motor skills?
Gross motor skills represent the totality of the functions that allow to control one's body movements: moving, jumping, walking, lifting the arms... Fine motor skills, on the other hand, concern very precise movements. The movements of the hand and fingers that are mobilized to perform a voluntary gesture.
Fine motor skills aim to develop certain small muscles in the fingers and hands in order to make very fine and precise movements. These are essential for the child's autonomy in everyday life. And that, to get dressed or eat for example.
This skill is acquired progressively during the development of children. Thus, the child will begin at an early age to manipulate small objects, throw them, drop them... And he will then, generally in a school context, perform actions requiring more control and meticulousness such as drawing, coloring or writing.
However, the pace of development of this skill differs from child to child. Some children have difficulty developing their fine motor skills. They will need training and practice through various repetitive activities to overcome this.
However, fine motor activities are beneficial and essential for all children. With or without special needs.
Because the fine motor activities, allow the children to /de :
- Learn to manipulate specific objects and elements in an appropriate manner
- Concentrate on achieving the desired result
- Control your force to avoid damaging the materials
- Assimilate and follow or apply an instruction
Here is our selection of workshops and fine motor activities that require few resources and that will greatly help your toddlers aged 2 and up to develop their prehension of objects and the precision of their gestures.
In order to get the most out of these activities, it would be wise to suggest that the child start with his dominant hand. As soon as they have completed several repetitions and mastered the gesture, they can continue by trying to use the other hand.
Hop'Toys fine motor skills course:
In order to work on the fine motor skills of children from 2 years old, Hop'toys offers a lot of fine motor skills games. Among them, this course to print. The goal of the game is very simple. You just have to follow the lines, sometimes straight, sometimes curved, dotted ... with your finger. And make the requested gestures: clap your hands, make an "ok" with your fingers....Download the course just HERE !
Momes Finger Twister Activity to print
Here is a great fine motor game offered by Momes for ages 4 and up. In addition to having fun developing fine motor skills, this game also teaches children to learn the names of their fingers. To play it, the same principle as the classic Twister. Except that instead of feet and hands, you use your fingers.
Game to download just HERE
Montessori fine motor activity: Hang out the laundry
Yes, yes! Children love to do what grown-ups do. It is therefore very interesting to offer them activities related to everyday tasks and that help them gain autonomy at the same time. Like hanging out the laundry. This can be real laundry (socks or tea towels) or mini clothes made with paper or felt.
Montessori workshop sorting and classifying according to shapes, sizes or colors
Sorting is a great activity to work on fine motor skills but also hand-eye coordination. To do this, simply put lots of small objects at the child's disposal. Then ask them to separate, sort and classify them according to their shape, size or color.
Montessori workshop alignment- grouping
Very similar to the filing activity but with more attention to detail, this fine motor activity also prepares toddlers (from 3 years old) for graphic design while developing their hand-eye coordination. It also helps to be precise while learning to align and organize. To do this, simply draw graphic shapes on a sheet of paper and provide the children with pebbles, buttons or beads to align following the drawing.
Montessori workshop threading up and down
Ideal activity to gain agility! The objective is to pass different elements over and under. It can be wire, ribbon, rope... Perfect for learning to tie your shoes too! This fine motor exercise can be done in many different ways. But a simple cardboard box with slits or holes will do the trick!
