Fine Motor Skills Group for Kids: Information for Parents
What We Focus On?
Hand Strengthening: Activities to build the strength and endurance of hand muscles, such as squeezing therapy putty, using hand grippers, and manipulating small objects.
Finger Dexterity: Exercises that require precise finger movements, such as playing with finger puppets, doing finger painting, or pressing buttons on a toy.
Hand-Eye Coordination: Tasks that improve the coordination between vision and hand movements, such as catching and throwing balls, threading beads, or playing with pegboards.
Bilateral Coordination: Exercises that require using both hands together in a coordinated way, like clapping games, cutting with scissors, or stringing beads.
Grasping and Pinching: Activities to develop different types of grips, such as using tongs or tweezers to pick up small items, playing with building blocks, or using clothespins.
In-Hand Manipulation: Tasks that involve manipulating objects within one hand, such as rotating a pencil, rolling small balls of clay, or flipping coins.
Visual Motor Integration: Activities that integrate visual perception with motor control, like drawing shapes, tracing patterns, or copying designs from a model.
Pre-Writing and Handwriting Skills: Exercises that prepare children for writing, such as drawing lines and shapes, colouring within lines, practising letter formation, and copying and tracing letters and words.
Functional Tasks: Engaging in everyday activities that require fine motor skills, such as buttoning shirts, tying shoelaces, or using utensils for eating.
Program Benefits:
Improved Fine Motor Control: Through targeted activities, children will gain better control over their fine motor movements, which is crucial for tasks such as writing, dressing, and eating.
Enhanced Hand Strength and Dexterity: Strengthening exercises help build the muscles required for sustained fine motor tasks.
Better Hand-Eye Coordination: Activities designed to improve coordination between what the eyes see and what the hands do.
Increased Confidence and Independence: As children improve their fine motor skills, they gain confidence in their abilities to perform daily tasks independently.
