Fine motor skills are defined as the coordination of small muscle movements which usually occur in the fingers and usually in coordination with the eyes. When related to the hands (and fingers) the term dexterity is most commonly used.

Manual dexterity is the ability for the hands and fingers to make coordinated movements. Strong fine motor skills, such as those used when writing, knitting, sewing and other activities that involve the hands and fingers, rely on manual dexterity.

In young children, manual dexterity is developed normally through routine activities that also require hand-eye coordination. Some children’s fine motor skills develop faster and are stronger than those of others and some children with weak fine motor skills may struggle when learning to form letters and beginning to write.

Because there are many reasons why fine motor skills and manual dexterity may be affected, paediatric occupational therapists often work with children to improve their manual dexterity.

Thankfully, there are several ways to help your child improve manual dexterity through simple every day, hands-on activities. Exercising a child’s fingers and hands can dramatically improve their manual dexterity so do try some of the following activities:

Threading cereals that have an O-shape – Threading cereal onto yarn is an activity that requires fine motor skills and is repetitively exercising the same muscles, all the while practicing hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity.

Sewing with yarn (wool) and cardboard – This is another great activity that can improve manual dexterity and builds on fine motor skills. Children simply feed the yarn back and forth through holes which requires concentration and can also satisfy a child creatively.

Coloring pages – Coloring in – more so than ‘random’ drawing, requires children to grip crayons and stay within the lines of the image they are trying to color. This too requires concentration and leave the child with an art creation to be proud of. At sites such as Bratz Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Bratz coloring for little girls, while little boys would perhaps enjoy the Pokemon coloring sheets at Pokemon Coloring Pages.

For particularly young children who cannot color yet or play with small objects, a classic shape sorter toy is a great place to start. For older kids, small, interlocking building blocks such as those by Lego or Duplo are great ways to play while improving and strengthening their manual dexterity.

Parents and caregivers of toddlers have no doubt heard the term ‘fine motor skills’ as it is often bandied about when talk turns to child development and preschool goals. Fine motor skills entail the small muscles of the body that allow such functions as writing, grasping small objects and fastening clothing. Fine motor skills involve strength, fine motor control and dexterity.

Fine motor skills, are skills that involve a refined use of the small muscles controlling the hand, fingers and thumb. The development of these skills allow a person – at any age – to be able to complete tasks such as writing, drawing and buttoning.

The preschool attainment goals that are expected of children include their ability to hold pencils and markers with a mature grip, the child’s ability to draw recognizable shapes and objects and a child’s capability to cut out shapes while turning the paper as necessary. Fine motor skills are important in most school activities as well as in life in general.

Limitations in fine motor skills can greatly impinge on a child’s ability to eat, write legibly, operate a computer, turn pages in a book and perform personal care tasks such as dressing and grooming.

As children improve their motor skills, they are much better able to help themselves by completing daily activities independently. For instance, children between the ages of 2 and 3 are able to put on and take off simple articles of clothing. They are able to ‘operate’ clothing with zippers, use spoons, string together beads with large holes and open doors that have doorknobs. When children are between the ages of 3 and 4, they are able to dress in clothing with larger buttons, use scissors to cut paper and can copy simple lined shapes using a pencil. By the ages of 4 to 5, children are able to dress and undress themselves without assistance. They are also able to handle a fork and have increased their dexterity to cut around shapes with a pair of scissors. Finally, by  age 6, a child is able to cut soft foods with a knife and can tie his or her shoe laces.

Because all children develop at their own pace, the ages given in this article are by no means an exact timeline because every child will acquire their fine-motor skills in a different timetable – however there is much you can do to support a toddler’s acquisition of fine motor skills. In fact, the more your preschool child uses his or her fingers in activities that help to strengthen their hand coordination, the sooner they will master dexterity.

Develop fine motor skills by drawing and coloring with your child using markers, crayons and even pavement chalk. Drawings need not be perfect – scribbling is great fun – and coloring pages of a favourite TV or movie character should encourage even the most reluctant colorer to literally try his or her  hand at coloring. At sites like Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Spongebob printables while little girls would perhaps enjoy the coloring sheets at Fairy Coloring Pages.

Despite parents’ best efforts however, sometimes children need some assistance when developing their fine motor skills. This requires parents to find diverse strategies in order to assist children with their development. Occupational therapists are the true experts in the field of fine motor and handwriting development, therefore, if you think that there may be an issue with the fine motor development of your child, you should ask for an evaluation by a licensed occupational therapist.

Parents and caregivers of toddlers have no doubt heard the term ‘fine motor skills’ as it is often bandied about when talk turns to child development and preschool goals. Fine motor skills entail the small muscles of the body that allow such functions as writing, grasping small objects and fastening clothing. Fine motor skills involve strength, fine motor control and dexterity.

Fine motor skills, are skills that involve a refined use of the small muscles controlling the hand, fingers and thumb. The development of these skills allow a person – at any age – to be able to complete tasks such as writing, drawing and buttoning.

The preschool goals that are expected of children include the ability of a child to hold pencils and markers with a mature grip, the child’s ability to draw recognizable shapes and objects and a child’s capability to cut out shapes while turning the paper as necessary. Fine motor skills are important in most school activities as well as in life in general.

Limitations in fine motor skills can greatly impinge on a child’s ability to eat, write legibly, operate a computer, turn pages in a book and perform personal care tasks such as dressing and grooming.

As children improve their motor skills, they are much better able to help themselves by completing daily activities independently. For instance, children between the ages of 2 and 3 are able to put on and take off simple articles of clothing. They are able to ‘operate’ clothing with zippers, use spoons, string together beads with large holes and open doors that have doorknobs. When children are between the ages of 3 and 4, they are able to dress in clothing with larger buttons, use scissors to cut paper and can copy simple lined shapes using a pencil. By the ages of 4 to 5, children are able to dress and undress themselves without assistance. They are also able to manipulate a fork and have increased their dexterity to cut around shapes with a pair of scissors. Finally, by the grand age of 6, a child is able to cut soft foods with a knife and can tie his or her shoe laces.

Because all children develop at their own rate, the ages given are not an exact timeline because every child will acquire their fine-motor skills in a different timetable – however there is much you can do to support a toddler’s acquisition of fine motor skills. In fact, the more your preschool child uses his or her fingers in activities that help to strengthen their hand coordination, the sooner they will master dexterity.

Develop fine motor skills by drawing and coloring with your child using markers, pencils, crayons and even pavement chalk. Drawings need not be perfect – scribbling is great fun – and coloring pages of a favourite TV or movie character should encourage even the most reluctant colorer to literally try his or her  hand at coloring. At sites like Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Spongebob colouring while little girls would perhaps enjoy the coloring sheets at Fairy Coloring Pages.

Despite parents’ best efforts however, sometimes children need some assistance when developing their fine motor skills. This requires parents to find diverse strategies in order to assist children with their development. Occupational therapists are the true experts in the field of fine motor and handwriting development, therefore, if you think that there may be an issue with the fine motor development of your child, you should ask for an evaluation by a licensed occupational therapist.

To the casual observer a child who is drawing or coloring in,  is just scribbling. The marks seem to be haphazard, almost meaningless. But there is much more happening in your young child’s mind as s/he engages in the physical act of drawing and coloring.

In fact, examining a child’s drawing gives us important insights into how drawing fits into the overall physical, emotional and cognitive development of the young child. From toddlerhood through primary school, children choose to draw and color, but the process starts much earlier – during toddlerhood.

At around the age of 18 months, toddlers become interested in scribbling. It seems to provide sensory enjoyment, but the child is also interested in the marks that are made. The act of doodling or scribbling can serve several useful purposes for the young child. Small muscle coordination and control improve with practice, cognitive abilities are exercised, opportunities for social interaction arise, and the physical movements provide emotional release.

Because a toddler’s small muscle control is not fully developed, he or she may approach the coloring sheet by grasping the marker with his or her fist and may have difficulty placing the marks exactly where he or she wants them. Movements are typically large, involving the whole arm with very little finger or wrist control. This is because the pattern of physical development proceeds from the center of the trunk outward.

With practice, the toddler will naturally improve his or her control, full control, however, will not be achieved until much later. A few toddlers rest the forearm on the drawing surface to give them additional control. A repetitive scrubbing motion is common among two-year-olds. This provides them with sensory enjoyment and making drawing a very physical act.

By providing children with the materials and opportunities to scribble a parent can promote physical skills. Just as babbling is a natural way to gain language, scribbling is a natural gateway to muscle control and coordination.

Intellectually toddlers are concerned with both the process and results of their art. They do not intend to represent objects at first. Instead, they are concerned with color and line. However, they may actually look at the scribbles they have made and, in surprise, recognize a shape and name it. While they may not have intended to draw a car, a house or a tree, the scribbles suggest the shapes. Children interpret, rather than intend. This is called fortuitous realism and becomes common as a child approaches three years of age.

As a parent you can encourage your child to draw and color by offering him or her opportunities to do so.  Let them loose on blank sheets of paper or provide them with a coloring book or coloring sheets, many of which  are available online. Little boys may enjoy coloring images of  cars and trucks or of favorite characters such as Pokemon and at sites like Pokemon Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Pokemon coloring pages free

Little girls on the other hand tend to prefer images of fairies and princesses and these too are plentiful online.

Remember that toddlers need constant supervision while coloring due to the choking hazard that crayons pose.

Every parent awaits in anticipation to see their child walk and talk. Before your child gets prepared for any action, his body has to get developed for that particular action. The development within babies varies due to many external factors.

Nutrition plays a vital role in development. Apart from that, sleep is very much necessary. This is because sleeping is the maximum growth period. Sleep time varies with age. New born babies sleep almost all the day because this is the time when most growth and development occurs. Each day your baby grows and the muscles in his body increases with time. By the time your baby reaches one year, he will begin to pick things up, try getting into a standing position, feed himself and clap his hands. His muscles also increase day by day.

If you feed your baby with more nutritious food, growth and development will be faster. A malnourished baby does not develop soon. At the time your baby reaches 13 to 15 months, he will play with his toys and try to talk. He will also walk without support. Some babies walk during 6 months. This is very unusual. Toys play important part in developing babies. Your baby will move his hands and legs and try to dance if you play a bosendorfer baby grand musical instrument. When he reaches 18 to 20 months, he will not only walk but run and walk up stairs. Now he can feed himself very well and play with building blocks. Also he will like to look at cartoons and watch television. At this age your baby will say quite a lot of words and do a lot of mischief.

When your baby reaches his second birthday, he will become more active constantly doing mischief and messing up everything. Therefore, you too have to be active and maintain safety precautions at home. Every child is different so you may have to be cautious more or less. Your baby might dump and fall into everything and hurt himself quite a lot. This should be prevented because if in case he hurts his head, this is harmful for his brain as the head is still very sensitive.

Many sweet memories are associated with these development stages so enjoy it as much as you can.