Fine motor activities are built on four basic skills. These skills include releasing objects, grasping for objects, reaching for objects, and turning the wrist in various directions.
To support your child’s fine motor skills you should make one of the following activities a part of your weekly activities at home:
- Mold and roll play dough into balls.
- Tear newspaper into strips.
- Squeeze water from a sponge.
- Roll small balls out of tissue paper.
- Sing songs with hand movements.
- Play clapping games.
Releasing
Releasing objects can be seen when your child is building with blocks. In order to build a tower, she has to pick up the block and then stack/ release the block on top of another block. This is great for hand-eye coordination, as well as grasping and releasing movements.
Grasping scissors and then releasing them so she can cut paper is also a fine motor skill. Your child’s mastery of grasping skills will not completely develop until she is three. Having your two year old pick up a bead (grasp) and place it on the string (release) helps strengthen fine motor muscles that your child will later need to build her writing skills.
Grasping
Grasping objects involves your two year old holding a writing instrument such as a pencil or crayon. Grasping objects can be seen in an activity such as scribbling.
Reaching Objects
Your child’s hand-eye coordination skills have improved as she has gotten older. This has lead to your child being able to have better small muscle control (grasping), which supports her ability to reach and grasp for objects because her hands and arms are working together to complete a task (picking up a ball and holding it or picking up a crayon from the table and grasping it).
Your child is now using her hand and arm together, and both arms are usually used together as well. You will see your two year old demonstrate a hand preference, if that one hand initiates the activity more often than the other. She moves her arm and hand together to get an object that she wants, and she usually starts by using the same arm and hand to reach for the object.
Hand preference is still emerging at this age, so it is not yet firmly established. As a result, your child may frequently reach for objects with alternating hands.
Turning the Wrist
This fine motor skill of turning the wrist involves your child moving his hand in circular motions. Working on this strengthens small muscles, which leads to further development of fine motor skills. Turning of the wrist movement is another fine motor skill that will lead to building strong writing skills as your child approaches age four.
