Coloring, Cutting, And Writing
Fine motor skills cover a huge range of things we do every day. In school we notice the lack of fine motor skills through coloring, writing and cutting. We look at both the product that each child has produced when they finish a project as well as how your child grips a pencil or crayon and how they hold the scissors when they are cutting. Fine motor skills are built through time and practice. I hope that you already have crayons, color books, pencils, paper, kid’s scissors and lots of other fun art materials that you and your child have been using to make great things for the refrigerator door with. If you can make sure their pencil and scissor grip is good, that is wonderful. If it is not, try and give them a gentle reminder and show them how you would like them to hold each item. I know kids get frustrated with parents over this. Just do the best you can, I don’t want your child to get upset or discouraged. I would rather they enjoy art, writing and cutting all they can at home. If they are frustrated with you trying to help them, here are some sneaky ways you can get them to practice their fine motor skills and not even realize it.
* Work on practicing tying or learning to tie your shoes
* Practice keyboarding on the computer or I-pad
* String beads or buttons together
* Build structures and things with little Legos
* Pick up little objects and put them into groups. I used beans, buttons, little rocks, etc. with my kids
* Make up hand motions to songs and practice them. Or use the good old favorites like “Wheels On The Bus” or “1, 2 Buckle My Shoe”.
* Button or snap their clothes. Even have them button their sweaters onto a hanger when they are helping you with the laundry.
* Get some of the fun art kits at the Dollar Store, Walmart, Target or your local craft store. All of these stores have seasonal art projects for little kids in their dollar or holiday section. My grandson has enjoyed making all kinds of place cards, window decorations, door hangers, etc.
* Decorate cupcakes or cookies. Squeezing the little tubes of icing and placing the little decorations on top is fun as well as good practice.
Remember the more they have to use their little fingers to pick up or manipulate small objects into place the better. And most importantly have fun. If it is great fun you will not only have some fantastic stories for them to talk about, but you will have built wonderful memories while helping their development and they will never be the wiser.