Early learning child development blog — how to improve fine motor skills

  My daughter Phoebe usually avoids table top fine motor activities at home, but these click together pieces from LAQ Australia have had Phoebe creating a range of different designs, patterns and structures, and Phoebe is practicing her fine motor skills while being creative and having fun.   The developmental benefits that I have been observing with the LAQ Australia product includes: * Bilateral coordination * Finger, hand, and wrist strength * Pincer grip * Spatial awareness * Creativity * Focus   Bilateral Coordination   Bilateral coordination refers to the ability of the body to move both sides at the...

Pipe Cleaner and Play Dough Fine Motor Activities My favourite pipe cleaner activity for encouraging fine motor skill development is creating characters with play dough and adding hair with pipe cleaners and beads, or tooth picks and beads. Why is this play dough and pipe cleaner activity important? The main elements for pincer grip are to use the thumb, first finger, and second finger to grasp small objects such as a pencil, bead, or button. For the first three fingers to be able to maintain a pincer grip, the fourth and fifth fingers need to stay clenched and out of...

5 activities to improve fine motor skill development for children  Here are 5 fun activities you can implement in your classroom or home to improve children’s fine motor skills, particularly pincer grip. Play tea parties and encourage wrist extension by carrying trays Learn more about how to develop wrist extension in my handwriting blog article here Make paper chains or pipe cleaners chains to encourage bilateral coordination Use small tongs to pick up pom poms, pasta, or magnetic letters hidden in rice Using tongs to pick up pasta, pom poms, etc. helps children to develop the grasp/release movement that is...