Gross and Fine motor skills have become an important parameter for assessing the development of the child. So it’s important to develop these skills in them which will in turn help them to perform better academically and physically too.
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills involve those activities that help the child to write and use small objects. Some of them are:
Painting: Children should be asked to use alternatively big, broad brushes and slim, fine brushes. The slimmer and smaller ones help to develop control over their hands. Using cotton swabs for painting will develop the pincer grip which is needed for learning to write clearly.
Puzzles: Puzzles help to develop control over the finger movement. The beginners could start with large knob peg puzzles that require full fisted grip and gradually move over to the ones that require thumb and forefinger grip also called as pincer grip.
Play dough: It’s an excellent tool to improve fine motor skills and becomes interesting to the child if rollers and cookie cutters are also added.
Cutting: Cutting helps in developing hand and eye coordination. The kids could be given some old magazines or newspapers to cut. Instead of mental scissors, they ought to be given non metallic ones which would be good enough to cut paper only.
Stringing: Stringing helps to control the hand movements. The kids could be given beads, pasta etc to string. This is one of the best means of developing fine motor skills.
Blocks: Stacking up the blocks is a good way to develop fine motor skills. Initially the kids should be given the larger ones. The smaller ones should be introduced once they have the control and grip other wise they may give up as the blocks would not set in place.
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills involve physical movement of the child like running, jumping, hopping etc. These require balance and coordination skills.
Running: New games could be invented to make the child run quickly like fetching the ball before music ends or musical chairs etc.
Climbing: Climbing help to develop gross motor muscles. They more they climb the better grip and balance do they get. Kids could be taken to the park and asked to climb the jumble gyms, monkey bars etc.
Hopping: Hopping helps in developing balancing ability. Kids could be made to hopscotch or any other such games.
Ball play: Throwing, catching, kicking and rolling the ball are means of improving gross motor skills. The kids should be given appropriate size balls to play. Smaller balls would need more control while the larger ones would be difficult for the younger ones to manage. It can be played indoors or outdoors.
Batting: Batting helps in developing hand and eye coordination. They kids could be encouraged to play baseball, tennis, golf, racquetball etc. Initially they should be given big, thicker bats and later on the size should be reduced.
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When small muscle movements are coordinated (usually in the fingers, hands and toes) fine motor skills are being utilized. Tying a shoelace, using a pencil and buttoning a button are examples of fine motor skills in action. Here are some games to improve fine motor skills. The games are also just good old fashioned fun that you can play anytime. The materials require nothing more than everyday things from around the house.
Materials:
- paper clip
- Q-Tip
- pencil
- quarter
- marble
- fork
(you can also play with things like popsicle sticks, crayons, twigs, etc.)
- roll of masking tape
- milk gallon ring top- that thingy you pull off when you open a gallon of milk
Simplest Way to Play: The simplest way to play this activity is to tape your targets (roll of tape and milk top ring) in upright position. Now let your child practice passing items (Q-tip, paperclip, etc.) through the targets.
How to pass an item through the target: Simply hand the item to yourself through the target.
More Challenging Way to Play:
Earn points by passing items through a target without knocking down the target.
You’ll Need Three Dice:
First die–tells you your target: odd number= milk gallon ring; even number= roll of masking tape.
Second die–tells you which item to pass through the target: 1= paper clip; 2= Q-Tip; 3=crayon; etc.
Third die–tells you how many times to pass the item through the target: 1= pass the item one time through the target; 2= pass the item two times through the target; etc.
How to Play:
1.Roll the first die to determine the target. If your target is the roll of masking tape, stand it up. If target is milk top ring, stand it up.
2. Roll the second die to determine which item to pass through the target.
3. Roll the third die to determine how many times you have to pass the item through the target.
4. If you finish your turn without knocking down the target, you score a point.
5. First player to ten points wins.
Note: If your child is too little to pass items through the milk gallon ring, eliminate this component. You still have a fun fine motor skills activity: Simply roll two dice—one to determine which item (Q-tip, crayon, etc.) will be used, and one to determine how many times to pass the item through the roll of tape.
Variation: PIG
If you’ve ever played PIG or HORSE on a basketball court, then apply the rules to the game-materials above. For example–pass a twig three times through the roll of masking tape. If the other player is unable to repeat the task, she gets a “P.” First player to cause the other player to spell PIG wins.
Playing fine motor skills activities with your child is a great way to develop and improve her fine motor skills. Using everyday household objects to play the games has the added advantage of stimulating your child’s imagination: she has an opportunity to help pick which items will be used for the games (for example–crayon, popsicle stick, penny, etc.); she also has an opportunity to shape the rules and invent new ways to play. These qualities not only improve fine motor skills, but help to develop the whole child. Have fun!
More Fine Motor Skills Games
October 11th, 2010 · 4 Comments
Here are some more fine motor skills activities that are easy to set up and fun to play. The best part is that very few materials are required to hold your child’s full focus and attention time and again.
What you need:
-Washers (several dozen)
-Marbles (several dozen)
If you don’t already have marbles around the house, you can find them at any toy store. Washers are easy to find at your local hardware store. You’ll notice the hole in the middle of washers varies in size. The smaller the hole, the more challenging the activities.
Game 1
Sit at the kitchen table. Make a line of washers on the table–a dozen or so should be fine. Each person has a bowl with marbles in it. Take turns placing your marble inside the hole of a washer. Keep playing until all the washers are filled. (Variation: Take turns calling out what color marble to use.)
Game 2
Sit at the kitchen table. Each player has a bowl filled with ten washers and ten marbles. On the word “go” see who will be the first to place all ten of their marbles inside all ten washers on the table-top. Washers and marbles must be removed from the bowl one at a time. (Variation: Stack two washers for each marble.)
Game 3
Sit at the kitchen table. Each player has a bowl filled with washers and marbles. One of the players rolls a single die. If a three come up, for example, each player must place three washers on the table and fill each with a marble. The first player to do so scores a point. Retrieve your items from the table and roll again. The first player to reach ten points wins.
Game 4
Sit at the kitchen table. Each player has a bowl filled with washers and marbles. One of the players rolls a single die. If a four comes up, for example, each player must stack four washers on the table and place a single marble on top. The first player to do so scores a point. Retrieve your items from the table and roll again. The first player to reach ten points wins.
Game 5
For each player, place ten washers in a row on a floor with a hard surface. Space the washers approximately one foot apart from each other. Each player has a bowl of marbles. On the word “go” see who will be the first to fill all ten of their washers.
An easy way to improve fine motor skills is to play games that require fine motor movements. Using washers and marbles offers a wide variety of activities that are both fun and challenging. The activities also nurture conceptual insight by inviting your child to participate in making rules and inventing new ways to play (a benefit that is rarely available for games you have to plug in–see Toys: When Great Grandma was a Little Girl).
Best of luck!
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Problem solving and thinking skills can be taught. It is important that students be given direct instruction on the use of problem solving skills within their curriculum. Given the secondary disabilities caused by some disorders, children will benefit from explicit instruction that includes: how to select the appropriate problem solving skill, how to gather the necessary information, how to apply the skill to solve a problem, how to shift problem-solving strategies when the original strategy is ineffective, and how to use the skills across academic domains and life situations.Specific problem solving approaches depend on the task the child has to solve. However, there are general thinking strategies to help students learn efficiently in the classroom.Teaching Problem Solving
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