Children & Motor Skills
- Several everyday activities develop fine motor skills. Any activity that requires fingers and hands to move in specific ways develops these skills. Tying shoes, zipping and unzipping, drawing, turning pages, screwing and unscrewing lids and more, fine tune fine motor skills. Keep the activity within the child's physical abilities. Forcing a child to learn to tie their shoes too early will only frustrate them and make them less willing to learn the skill when the time is right.
- Playing games educates children without seeming dull or tedious. Flatten out a can of Silly Putty or Play Doh. Lay items like pennies or buttons on top. Roll it up into a ball. Have the child find the objects inside. To incorporate sound into the exercise, put small bells inside. Children can hide the items themselves also. Hide objects in sand, rice, cooked spaghetti and seeds for variety and to develop sensory skills. Remind children to keep the small items out of their mouths to prevent choking.
- Practice gross motor skills in large areas to prevent injury. Throwing and catching a ball, hula hoop, jump rope and hopscotch all develop these skills. Walking along a low beam teaches balance. Practice these skills when children are developmentally ready. Encourage the use of throwing or carrying with both hands to develop both the left and right sides.
- Simon Says teaches gross motor skills. The format goes "Simon Says ... ." Start out simple with touching the head, stomach, toes, back and so on. Next have children hop up and down, stand on one foot, hop on one foot, hop and change feet and so on. Remember to not say "Simon Says" a few times. If a child does something without the phrase "Simon Says" before the action, they are out.
- Pushing a child to do a skill they are not ready for will only make it more difficult to learn later on. Test children, but know their limits. Keep the area as safe as possible. Most activities develop motor skills and keep children active. Outdoor play offers plenty of space for gross activities. Playing in a sandbox can develop fine motor skills. Working everyday ensures a child's development.