Fine motor skills are one of the important skills for children's development. This skill will help children explore the world around them, thereby developing cognitive thinking. At each age or stage, children will have different fine motor skill development. So what are children's fine motor skills? How important are fine motor skills? Parents are invited to learn together in the following article.
What are children's fine motor skills?
Before understanding children's fine motor skills, parents need to understand the concept of motor skills in general. This is the ability to move the muscles of the body to perform a certain activity such as crawling, crawling, walking, running, jumping, or cycling. And for these activities to be performed smoothly and proficiently, the child's nervous system and brain must develop.
The difference between children's gross motor skills and fine motor skills
Motor skills include gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Although these two types of locomotion both involve movement, there are still differences between them:
Children's gross motor skills: Related to the movement of large muscle groups such as arms and legs. This skill helps your baby perform movements that require a lot of strength such as sitting up, crawling, crawling, turning over, walking...
Children's fine motor skills: Related to the movements of smaller, more sophisticated muscle groups in the hands, fingers, and wrists. The more this skill develops, the more skillful and flexible children become in activities such as self-feeding, writing, drawing, dressing, personal hygiene, crafting...
Some necessary fine motor skills for children
Children's motor skills will develop and improve gradually through each level. This depends on health status, genetic factors, upbringing and living environment... Some children develop motor skills early, while others develop more slowly. Therefore, parents should not worry too much, regularly observe and support their children until they achieve the skills.
Here are some fine motor skills of children in the first years of life:
- From 0-3 months old: Put your hand to your mouth, relax your hand muscles, suck your fingertips.
- From 3-6 months old: Hold hands together, pass toys, use both hands to hold and shake toys.
- From 6-9 months old: Grasp objects, squeeze objects with hands, pinch fingers, grab objects, clap hands...
- From 9-12 months old: Holds food in his mouth, grabs small objects with his fingers, kicks things together, holds toys with one hand...
- From 1-2 years old: Stacking objects, practicing holding a pen and writing, eating with a spoon, turning book pages...
- From 2-3 years old: Turn doorknobs, wash hands, know how to use spoon and fork, pull zippers up and down, put and remove lids from boxes...
- From 3-4 years old: Know how to unbutton and button clothes, use scissors to cut paper, draw shapes on paper...
The importance of children's fine motor skills
Any child needs to practice fine motor skills from birth to adulthood. Because in everyday life, dexterity and meticulousness of hands are always needed. Furthermore, children's fine motor skills also bring many of the following benefits:
Enhance hand-eye coordination
Children's fine motor skills involve hand-eye coordination. When exposed to fine motor toys, children will improve the connection between what their eyes see and what their hands are touching.
Can feed himself without help from others
An unmissable benefit of fine motor skills is that children can successfully feed themselves. Parents should create conditions to improve children's fine motor skills through eating, specifically the Baby Led Weaning method (self-led weaning).
Children will explore food and drinks on their own by picking up and putting food into their mouths. Then use your tongue and teeth to stir and chew the food. Although these activities are simple, they contribute to developing fine motor skills and helping children become proficient at eating.
Form children's independence
This is also a necessary life skill that parents should practice for their children. And children's fine motor skills are essential for increasing independence. For example, children dressing themselves requires them to perform skillful operations such as lifting, twisting, zipping, buttoning, etc. Or children can turn doorknobs themselves thanks to good fine motor skills. When children can do these things themselves, they will rely less on others and become more confident.
Develop language skills
Language and pronunciation abilities are also closely related to children's fine motor skills. Children with fine motor problems will have difficulty controlling their fingers while writing and have limited pronunciation and vocabulary learning.
Training fine motor skills in muscle groups on the face, lips, and tongue will greatly help children's speaking ability. When children pronounce well, they can easily express their desires, communicate with people better and be more confident.
Get ready for writing skills
Children's hands need to practice both strength and dexterity. Only then will children be ready to hold and use crayons and pencils to color, write, and draw. Parents can encourage children to explore and interact with many interesting toys that develop fine motor skills to create excitement for children.
Hopefully the above article will help parents understand the importance of children's fine motor skills. From there, parents will have the most effective way to develop fine motor skills for their children. Don't forget to follow Mykingdom's " Handbook " section to see more useful articles.
