What are fine motor skills
Fine motor skills are the consistency and precision of movements required to perform various actions with small objects using the hands and fingers and toes.
Fine motor skills are evident in children from an early age, when they are just learning to hold a toy. First, the development of the hand and finger movements occurs, then the formation of speech is formed. The formation of speech through the development of fine motor skills occurs due to the influence of nerve endings on the parts of the brain responsible for motor skills and speech, which are located next to each other.
In addition to the main function - speech development - fine motor skills influence the development of mental processes: thinking, memory, imagination, and the ability to navigate in space.
Games and exercises aimed at developing fine motor skills
The main activity of preschool children is play. We have selected a variety of games and exercises for you, among which you will definitely find something that suits you and your child.
- Folding toys. We place a transparent container in front of the child and place small toys separately. We suggest putting toys into the container with your right hand. Then we pour them back and ask you to repeat the same actions with your left hand.
- Games with cereals. In one container we mix two types of cereals, for example, rice and buckwheat. It is necessary for the child to put these cereals into different containers. You can complicate the game by adding other small objects to the mixture of cereals, for example, beads, buttons, pebbles.
- Exercise for tearing a sheet of paper. First, draw random lines on a sheet of paper. We invite the child to tear the paper with his hands exactly along the drawn lines. You can complicate the task by depicting geometric shapes.
- Page turning exercise. As your child gets older, instead of tearing a sheet of paper, you can suggest flipping through the pages of a favorite book. This exercise also promotes the child's early interest in reading literature.
- Smoothing out a crumpled sheet of paper. We place a crumpled sheet of paper in front of the child and offer to smooth it out so that not a single bent corner remains. You can complicate the exercise by suggesting that you do it with one hand, while holding the sheet with your thumb.
- Games with cubes. We give the task to assemble various figures from cubes: a tower, a house, a car, etc. Pyramid rings are also suitable for these games. The tasks become more complicated as the child masters the construction of simple figures.
- Games with lacing. Available in various options. It can also be an unnecessary shoe that you can let your child lace and unlace. It could also be a card with holes for laces. In any case, the actions with these objects are the same and pursue the same goal - to teach the child to cope with shoelaces on his own, since this skill will be useful to him in the future.
- Exercises with counting sticks. Please place geometric shapes on the table. First, the child completes tasks according to the model, and then independently according to verbal instructions. An additional advantage of this exercise is the formation of elementary mathematical concepts.
- Games with lids. Here you can offer various containers and vessels with lids that the child will independently twist and unscrew. And if you tell your child that you can’t cope without him, you will give him a motive to become your main assistant.
- Finger drawing in the sand. Invite your child to draw geometric shapes or any other design he wishes with all his fingers one by one. Interaction with sand also has a positive effect on the central nervous system.
