Developing Fine Motor Skills

By using the activities below to work on fine motor skills with your child, you can, over time, support them to improve their coordination of their hand movements and their strength. This will make self-care tasks easier, because they will find it easier to grasp zips, buttons, Velcro and to grip their toothbrush or hairbrush. These activities are often referred to as pre-writing activities as skills in this area give your child a solid base for later writing.

You can incorporate these activities through their play at home and at nursery/school.

Use Thera putty or playdough to strengthen the hand. As well as developing skills over time, it can also be used before activities like brushing teeth or hair, as it will warm the hand up to grip better.

Games such as Connect Four can help with the pincer grasp (good for doing up buttons).
Other activities, such as insert puzzles, Lego, or threading beads can also help develop these skills.