The development of children’s fine motor skills is an important foundation for the attainment of other important skills in the future such as writing, drawing and self-help.

Fine motor abilities form the basis for many of the skills that children will develop and enhance as they move through childhood. For infants and young children, their fine motor skills facilitate their interactions with their world, and therefore their learning. As they develop, children’s fine motor skills are essential precursors to the development of early literacy, numeracy and self-help skills such as independent dressing and toileting. As children move through their preschool and into their school years, their fine motor skills assist them to continue to develop their literacy and numeracy skills, as well as to participate in a range of more complex activities such as art/craft experiences, board games, construction activities using blocks and commercial construction kits, using computers and playing musical instruments.

Children who have difficulty with fine motor activities may experience frustration and poor self-esteem because they are unable to perform everyday tasks such as drawing or cutting with scissors as competently as their peers.

Fire up the fine motor nerves in your child with this simple, hands-on activity!

Steps:

1. Give your child paper of different colors and a box of colorful paper clips

2. Ask your child to clip the paper clips to the matching paper color