Child Development: Fine Motor Skills  

Have you ever noticed how babies go from being quite uncoordinated to becoming coordinated toddlers? This happens because babies are born with very little control of their body.  As they grow, they learn to control their own body through a long and complicated process ⁽¹⁾. To achieve control of their own bodies, babies must master two types of motor skills: gross and fine motor skills.  

Types of Motor Skills: 

• Gross motor skills use larger muscles and muscles groups. They include locomotor, object control and balance skills, such as walking, rolling, and crawling. 

• Fine motor skills ⁽²⁾ involve the ability to control small muscle movements requiring close eye-hand coordination. Examples of fine motor skills are writing, using scissors, or tracing.  

Why Are Fine Motor Skills Important? 

• We need them to do everyday skills, such as eating, getting dressed or manipulating objects.  

• We need them to do well in school. Children who have issues with fine motor skills tend to have issues with their handwriting, as you can imagine, this has a negative impact in their academic achievement. In fact, research ⁽³⁾  shows that fine motor skills during preschool, and more precisely, manual dexterity, are a strong predictor of cognitive and academic skills during primary school. There are also a few studies suggesting that fine motor skills play a role in early reading, although it is not yet understood how.  

How Do Fine Motor Skills Develop? 

Fine motor skills develop a bit later than gross motor skills. This is because there is a sequence in developing muscles. First, we master the movement of the larger ones, and then we start controlling the smaller ones, and the coordination between muscles and organs (e.g., eye-hand coordination).  

Children develop their fine motor skills in the following sequence ⁽⁴⁾:  

1. Control their whole arm: they strengthen and refine the muscles in their arms. 

2. Control their whole hand: They strengthen and use their hands. 

3. Do the ‘pincher’: This is the ability to press the thumb and index finger together.  

4. Do the ‘pincer’: This is the final stage of fine motor development. Children can properly grasp a pencil and are able to engage in proper writing activities.   

How Can I Know if my Child Has Trouble with Fine Motor Skills? 

Each child is different, and their motor development is also different. This means that not all children master their motor skills at exactly the same time. If you think your child struggles with these skills, talk to your doctor and with their teachers.  

Children who struggle to acquire fine motor skills generally do occupational therapy ⁽⁵⁾. The role of the occupational therapist is to support the child when their needs cannot be met solely by the teaching team. Occupational therapy services include self-care skills, assistance with play and social relations, and academic support.  

In the same way that there are individual differences in the ages at which children acquire fine motor skills, there are also very important cultural differences. These cultural differences are caused because child rearing practices are different across the world. Let me give you an example. In the Western world, the guidelines state that babies should be sitting on their own between the ages of 5 and 7 months. Babies who sit before or after this period, are labelled as precocious or delayed. But what happens when we examine babies across six different cultures?  A recent study ⁽⁶⁾ found that at 5 months no baby that was examined in Italy could sit independently, whereas 92% of babies in Cameroon could sit on their own. These differences in development happen because culture matters when raising children. Children growing up in cultures that allow and encourage them to sit independently tend to sit quicker than children in cultures who are not giving the chance to practice sitting. This is the case for every single skill you can think of. If a child is not given the chance to practice it, he will acquire it later or never. The opportunities given to children and when those opportunities are given, are greatly determined by the culture they live in.  

How Can I Help My Child Develop Their Fine Motor Skills? 

The best way to help your child develop their fine motor skills is by providing an environment that allows them to practice large and small movements.  

For babies: 

• Give them things to grasp, squash, grip, and poke such as wooden spoons, pans, and pots 

• Tear wrinkly paper 

• Clap to music 

• Finger play songs such as ‘Wheels on the Bus’ 

• Tummy time while they need to grasp a toy  

• Play with pom poms 

• Shaking a rattle or a toy that makes noise or sound 

For older children:  

• Cut with scissors 

• Put together puzzles 

• Cook  

• Set the dinner table 

• Play board games where they have to roll a dice and manipulate small pieces 

• Finger painting  

• Build Legos 

• Play with play dough 

• Pouring water from one container to another 

• Clipping clothespins on a plastic cup 

• Stringing beads 

• Kick a ball 

Learning to master their fine motor skills can be frustrating for many children (e.g., learning to tie your shoelaces is not an easy feat!) and it can be equally frustrating for parents (e.g., yes, tying your shoelaces can take  20 minutes). Try to be patient and do not just do it yourself because it is quicker. Remember that children need to be allowed to practice new skills so they can learn them. 

As you can tell, there is no need to buy specific fine motor skills toys, you only need what you have around the house.  

Is Screen Use Negative for the Development of Fine Motor Skills? 

There is not much research examining this issue. It has been argued that the use of tablets may encourage the development of fine motor skills because it requires children to swipe and press buttons. However, others argue that the use of this type of media only requires children to perform repetitive and limited actions, not really benefiting the development of fine motor skills.  

A recent study ⁽⁷⁾ found that media use was negative for the development of fine motor skills during early childhood. However, it is not clear if children with lower fine motor skills are more drawn to screens or if on the contrary, screen use is negative for the development of fine motor skills.  

To conclude 

The more you let your child practice their fine motor skills, the better! 

If you have any questions or comment, please do get in touch with me.  

Love,  

Ana 

Dr Ana Aznar 

References 

⁽¹⁾  Adolph, K. E., & Hoch, J. E. (2019). Motor development: Embodied, embedded, enculturated, and enabling. Annual review of psychology, 70(1), 141-164. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102836 

⁽²⁾ Bondi, D., Robazza, C., Lange‐Küttner, C., & Pietrangelo, T. (2022). Fine motor skills and motor control networking in developmental age. American Journal of Human Biology, 34(8), e23758. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23758 

⁽³⁾ Suggate, S., Pufke, E., & Stoeger, H. (2019). Children’s fine motor skills in kindergarten predict reading in grade 1. Early childhood research quarterly, 47, 248-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.12.015 

⁽⁴⁾ Carvell, N.R. 2006. Language Enrichment Activities Program (LEAP), vol. 1. Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University. 

⁽⁵⁾ Salazar Rivera, J., Alsaadi, N., Parra-Esquivel, E., Morris, C., & Boyle, C. (2024) A Scoping Review of Interventions Delivered by Occupational Therapists in School Settings, Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 17:3, 510-534, DOI: 10.1080/19411243.2023.2232806 

⁽⁶⁾ Karasik, L. B., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Adolph, K. E., & Bornstein, M. H. (2015). Places and postures: A cross-cultural comparison of sitting in 5-month-olds. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(8), 1023-1038. 10.1177/0022022115593803 

⁽⁷⁾ Martzog, P., & Suggate, S. P. (2022). Screen media are associated with fine motor skill development in preschool children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 60, 363-373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.03.010