Fine motor skills involve the small muscles of the hands and are essential for a child’s play, drawing, cutting, writing, cutlery use and managing buttons and shoelaces.

 

The skills required for these functional tasks include the integrated ability to coordinate both hands together, wrist and finger movement (flexion, ab/adduction and extension), grasp strength, as well as finger and thumb isolation, control and integration.

​

If your child has difficulties with any of these fine motor skills, thenour experienced occupational therapists can help. Contact us for more advice or support.

​

Some of our favourite activities to develop fine motor skills are:

• Playdough, kneading cookie or bread dough

• Playing with clothes pegs or dice games

• Threading beads or pasta penne onto pipe cleanersstrings, finger knitting

• Posting coins

• Using spoons to transfer rice/ water/ flour between cups or bowls

• Button snakes (buttons sewn onto a ribbon or piece of cloth)

• Peeling stickers and sticking these on different surfacesBuilding with Lego Duplo or Knex