Improve fine motor skills
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Is there a problem?
Can they:
- Do up buttons themselves
- Put lego together
- Use knives and forks?
- Scissors??
If so it might be just lack of motivation. Either way these tips should help.
Boys and fine motor skill development delays
Coming soon!
Tripod grip
The pencil is loosely held between the thumb and first two fingers.
The index finger and thumb grip the pencil, the other three fingers curl in behind.
Strengthening the pincer grip
Is it the way the pencil is held that's the problem?
If so start with building up the muscle strength and control in the fingers.
The more we strength those muscles, the easier it will be to hold a pencil.
You can improve the muscle strength and control by:
- Working with play dough,especially squashing, squeezing and rolling
- Using big tweezers or tongs to pick up small objects
- Games like Operation
- Moving small objects between two bowls against the clock - use an egg timer.
Then work on improving the grip:
- Get the child to play 'crocodiles'. Use a rubber band to secure 3 or 4 crayons together. Ask the child to snap their hand like a crocodile and slide the bunch of pens into their grip.
- A lump of plasticine around the stem of the pencil which can be squashed and grip while holding it
- A chunky,triangular shaped pencil
- Try a short pencil
- You might use commercial 'finger grips' for pencils. There are many different styles & you'll need to play around till you find one that helps.
The grip is correct but too tight
If they do grip properly the strain of holding a pencil to tight may be causing muscle fatigue and putting the child off.
The key is not to grip too tightly. When the grip is too tight:
- The child has white knuckles,
- Makes holes in the paper,
- Breaks the pencil lead
A small ball of paper held between the palm and the three back fingers will help to loosen the grip.
Tips to make it fun
Too often tasks are devised that do provide the correct muscle skills and hand/eye coordination but are deeply boring. Drills and repeated practice are hard to sustain over long enough time scales to be really effective. Try thinking more creatively.Use what interests the child:
- Use a blank "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE" worksheet and get the child to draw the desperado
- Pirates, work together to draw a treasure map. Use lots of repeated patterns on the map like ^^^^ for waves etc.
- Lego, sketch block or lego constructions or design them before construction.
- Cars, Get a long piece of paper,tape a crayon to the back of a toy car. Pull it along to make roads, then get the child to add the scenery. Repeated rectangles for skyscrapers, circles for bushes, circles with attached rectangle for trees. Use the paper as a race track.
Please add your own tips and ideas
