Children are not developing the fine motor skills they need

This was an issue which was highly discussed last year as many primary school teachers found that children were starting reception class without the fine motor skills they needed or should be achieving by that age. This has again been highlighted with many expressing the same concerns.

The importance of fine motor skills

Fine motor skills are important for children to master in order for them to begin to process of learning to write and form letters. Without being developmentally mature enough for this and the strength and control necessary, it is very difficult for children to learn letter formation and begin writing.

Fine motor skills are not just necessary for writing but for many other daily tasks such as doing up buttons, using locks, tying laces, picking up objects, turning pages in a book etc…. These skills should begin developing early on but children need the experiences and the opportunities to develop and acquire these skills.

There is an ongoing debate amongst early years professionals as to whether children in the early years should be taught letter formation and writing however this is not essential and there are many other ways that fine motor skills can be promoted.

How to promote fine motor skills

Fine motor skills can be promoted in many ways and with all ages. Some practitioners like to create fine motor areas or specific activities but the important thing is to be aware of fine motor development and ensure that all children have the opportunity to explore and develop these skills through activities such as; 

·         Messy play – Beans, rice, cereals etc anything small that children can learn to pick up using a pincer grip

·         Padlocks and keys – These can Incorporate other areas of learning too such as matching the same colour key and lock or same numbered key and lock

·         Graphics areas – Pencils, pens, crayons which the children can access as they please all give children the opportunity to use fine motor skills

·         Threading – These can be brought or made by the setting but all encourage children to use fine motor skills

·         Art – Painting with cotton buds, brushes, fingers stamps, gluing and sticking small pieces all encourage fine motor skills

·         Tweezers – Large tweezers for the early years can be brought these can then be used for sorting activities, messy play etc.

·         Scissors – Cutting various pictures, patterns, shapes, lines all promote fine motor skills.

·         Pipettes – Having these in the water area can be great fun and can also be used as part of set activities. A fun way to use these is in potion making games.

·         Nuts and bolts – A great and interesting way to promote fine motor skills

Writing and holding pencils doesn’t need to be the main focus and is not always the most effective way of supporting fine motor development. There are many options to supporting fine motor skills so that children can learn to write when they are ready.