Fine Motor Development

When speaking about fine motor skills the first thing that most people relate these skills to is handwriting. This is true but there is so much more to fine motor skills than handwriting. From the time a baby comes into the world they begin to develop their fine motor skills. These skills are often taken for granted for those who don’t have any difficulty, but fine motor challenges can have a significant impact on not only handwriting and academic related skills but also play, dressing, feeding and a range of self-care skills.

By definition fine motor skills involve movement and coordination of the small muscles in the hand, fingers and wrist sometimes referred to as dexterity.

It is important to gain an understanding of how children typically develop these skills and how we can encourage this development. What is also important to understand is research tells us what order most children develop skills. This doesn’t mean that all children will develop skills in exactly the same order. This is why skills are outlined in age ranges rather than in a preset sequence. It is perfectly normal for a child to not develop all skills within their age bracket, but they would be expected to pick them up as they age. If a child is missing a significant amount of skills expected for their age or does not seem to be developing skills it is important to get further assessment to gain an accurate picture of their development.

I have created a series of blogs outlining expected fine motor skills for age ranges from birth to ten years including activities to encourage to development and maintenance of fine motor skills.