Why promote fine motor skills more?

Fine motor skills are those smaller hand and finger movements such as picking up small objects, using pencils using a pincer grip and threading thin pieces of string. These fine motor skills are essential for children to be able to form letters and write once they are ready. Practitioners will often support writing development through teaching a child to form letters using a pencil. Many practitioners still feel that before starting reception children should be able to read, write and count. However, these are not strictly signs of a child being school ready. Parents, in particular, can find this difficult to understand and can become frustrated when their child is nearing the end of preschool and is still unable to correctly form letters. This what to expect in preschool poster may be useful for helping parents understand exactly what children should be able to do by the end of preschool. 

In a previous article we have discussed the consequences of teaching children to write in preschool and how sometimes it can really set a child back. If you are interested in this article is can be found here. Therefore to ensure that children are not being taught to write before they are ready, many would recommend that preschools place a higher emphasis on general fine motor skills rather than writing and letter formation skills. 

Way to promote fine motor skills

Actively promoting fine motor skills is a way of supporting children’s development and also ensuring they have the essential skills they need to learn to form letters once they get into reception. This is also a way of reassuring parents that you are giving children all the necessary skills they need. Actively promoting fine motor skills may be done through more than just mark making, tweezers, threading and messy play. Many settings are now dedicating areas, stations or slots during the day to group fine motor activities by following various schemes. Finding some time each day to fit a fine motor activity or scheme can be highly beneficial as every child takes part at the same time so every child is supported and included. Some of the common ways practitioners are currently doing this is through

1. Dough Disco – This involves giving every child a piece of play dough that they play with the music, following true dough disco will involve somebody calling out various actions such as poke, roll, pat, pinch etc…
2. Write Dance – This involves music, movement and language to promote early writing skills, this programme in the link is designed specifically for 3-5 year olds.. 
3. Finger Gym – This involves games, stories, rhymes and activities which promote fine motor skills and language.
4. Write from the start – This is aimed at children ages 4 -6 years, however, could be easily adapted for those younger preschoolers. A programme which aims to improve fine motor skills through over 400 fun exercises and activities.
5. The Jungle Journey – This is aimed at reception children who are working towards early learning goals but again there is no reason why it couldn’t be used with preschoolers. It is a 9-week programme so would be perfect for the summer term before the children go to school. This works on both gross and fine motor control but with most of the emphasis on those fine motor skills.

We would love to hear about any schemes or programmes you have used and found to be beneficial.