Articles - Fine Motor Skills

Motor skills are the ability to initiate and control movement impulses. Signals within the body's nervous system that coordinate movement for activity are divided into gross motor and fine motor. Gross motor and fine motor interact and overlap one another.

Fine motor involves the coordination of the small muscles of the hands or feet with the assistance of other senses e.g. the eyes. Movements like grasping an object and moving the object to the mouth use fine motor skills.

Activities that encourage the development of fine motor skills include:

Food - babies can hold their own food at a very early age.
Finger games - eg little dicky birds, finger puppets
Many toys which require dexterity - shape sorters, dressing dolls, etc
Jigsaw Puzzles
Blocks
Drawing
Painting
Turning pages in books
Finger painting

Many activities involve simultaneous use of gross and fine motor skills.

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