Fine Motor Skills

When babies are born, their brain is not developed enough to control this type of movement. This happens with time, as your baby grows.

Fine Motor skills are simply actions that involve your child using his smaller muscles, such as the ones found in his hands and fingers, to manipulate objects of different shapes and sizes.

By holding a small object between his finger and thumb, your child is using his fine motor skills. But it is not only limited to fingers. By using his mouth to taste different foods, your child is also using his fine motor skills.

When babies are born, their brain is not developed enough to control this type of movement. This happens with time, as your baby grows.

Typically, development starts in the head, and then gradually advances down to the rest of the muscles in the body.

This means that babies gain control of their face, mouth, lips, and tongue first, followed by the rest of their body muscles in time.

Fine Motor skills usually start to develop as your child’s whole body gains stability and mobility as well as with his cognitive and social development. They are a critical part of his development as he needs to learn to use his hands competently to be able to manipulate objects and to acquire self-help skills such as feeding and dressing.

If you notice your child trying to accomplish something on his own, encourage him with positive words of reinforcement and show him different ways of achieving his objective without completing the task for him.

Once your child reaches the 1 year milestone, he will have better control over his tiny fingers and hand muscles much more than he did before. Your toddler’s curiosity will make him eager to learn about the world around him. Musical instruments that he can shake and bang will delight him as will toys with buttons, wheels, and other colorful moving parts. Stacking blocks are also a favorite game at this age, especially the part where he gets to knock down a tower you built together. Activities that can help in your 1 year old’s Fine Motor skill development:

• Help your child fill and empty a container with objects of different shapes & sizes
• Sit facing your child and encourage him to roll a ball to you
• Have your child point to different parts of his body when you say their name
• Help him create shapes such as balls and snakes with play dough
• Show him a family photo and ask him to point out the different family members
• Play peek-a-boo with him and encourage him to imitate your actions
• Hide a toy under a cloth and let him find it on his own