Why Fine Motor Skills are So Important

If you have spent much time at all on my blog you’ve heard me talking about fine motor skills. Nearly every tot school activity I introduce focuses on building vocabulary or fine motor skills (and often the activities do both!). If you aren’t already taking an active role in your child’s fine motor development you are missing a critical opportunity to help them reach their full potential.

What are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine Motor Skills (also referred to as dexterity) is the blanket term for activities that require control of small muscles in the hands. If you think of the way that a newborn uses his or her hands, they are clumsy and awkward as they bat at things. Even the simple ability to grasp and release is an acquired skill. Now think of your own dexterity. You and I can perform complex tasks with our hands easily. The development of fine motor skills is the path that a child takes from those early baby days to reaching the skill level that you and I share.

Why are Fine Motor Skills Important?

Many studies suggest that the use of fine motor control is the basis for all intellectual functioning within the first 2 years of a child’s life. This reliance on fine motor control for learning continues throughout childhood. Children naturally learn with their hands, this is why increasing the skill level with which they are able to use their hands is so important.

Development of fine motor skills is vital for developing independence, self- confidence and even social skills. A child with advanced fine motor abilities will stand out amongst his or her peers in a preschool or early elementary setting. This child will be early to dress himself, early to excel with cutting or playing with small toys, and most importantly early to write. Children are cognitively ready to write at a much earlier age, the lack of congruent muscle ability is what delays them.

Sadly the development of fine motor skills has declined dramatically in recent years.Children spend more time watching TV, playing video games, or using an iPad. Consequently they spend less time working the many muscles in their hands. I have spoken to many teachers who lament the decline in their student’s abilities. One friend who teaches kindergarten says that today the majority of incoming students are unable to correctly hold a crayon or pencil. Even 15 years ago she says that most students possessed that skill by 3 or 4 years of age.

It’s my opinion that children today move too little in all aspects of life. They have become so accustomed to electronic stimulation that they are not spending the time playing outside that children did even a generation ago. This impacts their fine and gross motor skills as well as their overall health. Spending one hour each week playing t-ball is not enough activity for a healthy growing child.

What does Montessori Say About Fine Motor Skills?

Maria Montessori was a strong supporter of movement as a means of developing mental acuity. She believed that the physical movements of the young child were directly connected to the child’s learning potential.

“In fact, it is only by movement that the personality can express itself.” Maria Montessori in The Absorbent Mind

“The child has to acquire physical independence by being self-sufficient; he must become of independent will by using in freedom his own power of choice and ability.”

This belief is repeated throughout the Montessori classroom. The use of motor skills is believed to increase the ease with witch a task is learned and understood. For example, the Pink Tower, a classic Montessori material initially appears to be a simple stacking activity. However, as the child stacks each cube he or she is building hand strength, muscle control, and learning about ordering. That very sense of order is vital to later math concepts.

What Can I Do To Help My Child?

There are also numerous activities to build them. Most  can be practiced using items you already have around the house. Ultimately any activity that uses the hands and arms is going to be building muscle control. The important thing is for the child to practice a wide variety of activities so all of the muscles are worked equally.

Here are some simple activities to begin with:

• Scooping or spooning activities
• Pouring a variety of liquids and solids
• Working with clay or playdough
• Lacing
• Stringing beads
• Cutting
• Coloring
• Painting
• Picking up small objects
• Using tongs
• Handling delicate objects

Here are just a few of the many activities I have featured that build fine motor skills.

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