Supporting your child’s fine motor skills through play – from birth to 12 months

Fine motor skills are the small, precise movements we make with our hands, fingers, feet and toes. They involve co-ordinating muscles, joints, and nerves to make the movements necessary to complete a task. For example, doing up buttons, tying shoelaces, using cutlery, and so on.

Developing fine motor skills

The development of fine motor skills for children involves different muscle groups and actions, such as grasping, pinching, squeezing, and manipulating objects with precision.

Hand-eye coordination is an important part your child developing their fine motor skills. Their fine motor skills also need sensory feedback from their eyes, muscles and joints and touch receptors in their skin. This allows them to adjust their movements based on what they see, touch, and hold.  

The development of fine motor and hand skills is similar to the construction of a house. The first thing that is laid down is the foundation which then supports all the levels above it.

Fine motor skills (1) (cropped)

Stability

Stability is a combination of strength and balance that allows us keep one part of our body still while another part moves e.g. being able to put on your shoes without falling over.

Bilateral Coordination

Bilateral Coordination is the efficient use of both hands during an activity, and most daily activities require the coordinated use of both hands, one as the ‘doer’ and one as the ‘helper’, for example, holding a bowl with one hand and stirring with the other, or blowing bubbles and holding the container at the same time.

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Sensation

Sensation is knowing where your fingers, hands and arms are and how they are moving without constant conscious attention to them e.g. knowing where to put your hands when catching a ball, and also feeling the difference between a tissue and a coin in your pocket.

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Dexterity

Dexterity allows us make small precise accurate movements with our hand without tremendous effort e.g. picking up a raisin, picking up a crayon and positioning it in your hand.

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Daily Living Skills

Daily Living Skills are the functional skills children are expected to use to participate in every day, for example, feeding themselves, getting dressed in the morning, participating in school activities, and playing are all daily living skills for children.

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Refinement of skills

Refinement of skills takes years to complete, for example, a child may begin to finger feed independently around his/her first birthday, but he/she will not have refined his eating skills e.g. cutting, spreading with a knife until mid to late childhood. The development of hand skills begins in early infancy and continues into adulthood.

Fine motor activities

Below are some ideas you might like to consider when playing with your child from birth to 12 months. These activities will support your child’s fine motor skills. As with all play activities, be led by what your child enjoys and finds most interesting. All children develop differently and at their own pace. The ages given below are guidelines only.

 

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From birth

Babies’ fine motor movement develops from first having their hands in a fisted position to reaching towards objects and touching them. From there, their movement generally progresses from putting things in their mouths to moving objects between their hands.

Tummy time prepares your baby’s arms and hands for fine motor skills.

Objects, such as rattles and squeak toys encourage gentle and playful interactions between parents and their babies. Rattles, squeak toys and teething toys are also a way for babies to independently explore a safe object with their own hands and mouths. They become their first introduction to toys.

Babies can begin to hold the object in their hands, then shake, and then move it from one hand to the other. This progression generally takes place across the first six months of their lives.

When a baby is 12 weeks or older, play gyms are a way for them to reach, grasp and pull at and interact with different objects on their own before they can sit up.

Grasping is an important fine motor skill that babies develop in stages over time. The grasping action allows your baby to start to develop the strength and flexibility in their hands and fingers.

Play gyms work best when the toys and objects are changed over time, so swop around your baby’s play gym objects so they don’t become bored. But be careful not to offer too many toys at one time though.

You can also hold objects above your baby and encourage them to swipe at the objects. As your baby’s reaching and grasping skills increase, you can start to gently pull on the objects which will help with your baby’s grasping skills.

Babies generally find high-contrast images in early baby books interesting to look at and turning the pages of a book also supports their early fine motor development.  Small board books attached to the pram or play gym are a good way for children to explore the pages and images on their own.

 

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From approximately six months

From approximately six months, babies can pick up and manipulate objects. Stacking rings help babies to refine their fine motor coordination (with your help). In this action, they are practicing grabbing and using their pincer grip to pick up the pieces.

The pincer grip is the ability to hold something between your thumb and first finger. This skill usually develops in babies around 9 to 10 months old. Children use their pincer grip to pick things up and feed themselves. In the longer term, it lays the foundation for a good pencil grip when they start school.  

Stacking and nesting toys also teach babies how to hide and retrieve objects on their own.

Balls and toys with wheels provide excellent opportunities for fine motor manipulation. Babies also learn how to use strings as tools when attached to a pull toy. Place a pull toy out of your baby’s reach, but make sure that its string is within reach. Show them first how the toy can be pulled towards them and then let them have a go. Similarly, a blanket may be used in the same way as a string, by placing the toy or object on the blanket, just outside of their reach.

Toys in the bath can be introduced into bath play as soon as babies are able to sit upright on their own. Place a variety of cups and bowls in the bath and encourage them to pour water from one vessel to another.

Crawling games can be important to develop your child’s strength and stability in their shoulder, arms and hand, and develops the arches of the hand which is important for fine motor development.

 

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