Writing & Fine Motor Skills

Did you know it is not developmentally age appropriate for children to begin writing until the age of 6?

Yet, as educators who have to follow the standards set before us, we must have students writing letters, words, and sentences long before.

As you read this post, I’m sure you’re thinking of those children in your class who are struggling writers. Maybe it’s because they have other interests, have difficulty thinking about what to write, or simply cannot form the letters on the page. Our students must be able to sit up, hold their upper body correctly, and be able to grasp the pencil, manipulate it, and then of course put the letters, words, and pictures on the paper. With this in mind, I write this post for those of you who have students who cannot control their bodies in such a manner to hold objects in their hand correctly. Following are some activities you can try in your classroom and communicate to parents.

MOTOR SKILLS: Our motor skills involve moving the large and small muscles of our bodies, enabling us to interact with our environment and objects. Motor skills that we are most familiar with are:

*Gross Motor Skills
* Fine Motor Skills
* Visual Motor Skills
PLAY: Play is the number one JOB of childhood. Play is the #1 most important activity of a child.
Play promotes movement and muscle development. It promotes social skills such as eye contact, listening, initiating and sustaining communication with others, and identifying own interests and goals. Play also promotes awareness of our bodies and surroundings: personal space and encouragement of how to move our bodies in certain ways. And most importantly, PLAY IS MOVING OUT BODIES! It is not playing video games or the computer.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS: Using the small muscles of our hands to move and reposition objects. We must be able to control gross motor skills first in order to develop fine motor skills. The purpose is to:
Gross Grasp-grabbing & holding an object in 1 or 2 hands
Pinch-grasping an object between thumb and fingers
Dexterity-repositioning an object in our finger tips.

To grab your copy of FINE MOTOR SKILLS ACTIVITIES click on the picture above!

What fine motor activities have you had success with? I would love to learn more!