An article on the Community Playthings website, “Hands at Play”, explores the value of play in the development of fine motor skills in toddlers and young children.

Dr. Christy Isbell, professor of occupational therapy at Milligan College (USA), author and practicing pediatric occupational therapist, writing for Community Playthings, discusses how children develop the full range fine motor hand skills they will need as they grow, including feeding and dressing themselves. She points out, that whilst writing skills development is often the focus of early learning programs, hand skills are needed for a wider range of activities, such as learning to clap along with music, do fingerplays, point to identify an object or image, put on dress-up clothes, dress or wash a doll, turn book pages, draw, cut, stack or pick up toys, as well as learning to eat snacks, pour liquids, and drink from a cup.

Dr. Isbell argues, “Between infancy and age seven, young children develop more fine motor skills than at any point in their lives. The preschool years are an especially critical time for motor development. It is vital that preschoolers spend time in well-designed learning environments that offer ample opportunities for exploration and play”, continuing, “three- and four-year-old children should spend more time playing with manipulatives than practicing writing skills. If families or educational programs push young children to write before their hands are physically ready, it may have a negative impact on the children’s interest in expressive writing.” She cites research evidence that “preschoolers who have yet to develop the precursors for higher-level fine motor skills are at risk for developing poor pencil, grasp, illegible handwriting, and slow handwriting.”

In the article, Dr. Isbell outlines a number of fine motor skills at which children should become adept fore they attempt more challenging fine motor skills activities such as pre-writing and using scissors.

·      Developmental Readiness: Coming to grips with the concepts of “part” and “whole” by building, stacking, and putting things together (e.g. by using blocks and other stacking toys).

·      Good posture/Balance: Fine motor skills are easier to complete when a child is not having to use their arms to steady themselves and can sit with “her feet firmly on the floor and her back straight”.

·      Grasp: “The grasp ought to be strong enough that the child can hold the writing tool, but flexible enough to allow the child to move the tool across a paper surface. The strength and quality of a child’s grasp will develop over time. While most three-year-olds hold a crayon with all of their fingers, the majority of five-year-olds use their thumb, index, and middle fingers to hold the crayon.”

·      Forearm and Wrist Control: “To effectively participate in fine motor activities, a child should be able to swivel her forearm so that her palm is up and then down. A child’s ability to hold her wrist firm while moving her fingers is particularly important for activities such as cutting and lacing or stringing. These precursors improve dramatically between the ages of three and five years.”

·      Bilateral Hand Use: “By age three, a child should learn to stabilize an object with one hand and mover her other hand…. By age five, a child should begin developing reciprocal hand use where she can cut with one had and turn the paper with the other hand to create large, simple shapes.”

·      Eye-Hand Coordination: “The child needs to be able to use her vision to coordinate the movement of her shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers as she learns to use a new tool or participates in a new fine motor activity.”

Dr. Isbell concludes by noting, “Preschoolers who have the chance to construct their own knowledge and who can work at their own levels will be more engaged in learning and more capable of developing their fine motor skills.” She stresses that the product of participating in a fine-motor-skill development activity is not important as the process and the child should be free to express themselves through exploration of new materials. “When a class of preschoolers finishes a fine motor activity, their products should not all look alike.”