There are two types of motor skills, gross motor skills and fine motor skills. In this post, we focus on fine motor skills. These motor skills deal with the small movements of the body, such as in the hands, fingers, toes, lips and tongue.

These motor skills that children develop become very important for every day activities. These skills allow children to tie their shoes, use scissors, open and close things, pinch objects, and many more functional tasks!

Many of the activities we do here at ECDA, promote fine motor skills. We have the children use different objects and tools to paint with and use for other crafts. Tools such as sponges, droppers, brushes, and cotton balls are among the many we use for our activities. Using these different tools require different hand movements that are precise that not only will allow them to do these activities, but it helps develop their fine motor skills, which will allow them to do many tasks in the future that serve important functions to their daily lives.

 

Even something as simple as play-dough or putty promotes fine motor skills. Children can manipulate the dough in various ways using their fine motor skills. You can also hide items in dough and allow your child to find the hidden items. Activities like this and the ones we do here in ECDA, are designed to be engaging and interesting for children, so they don’t feel any pressure, and are able to develop important motor skills while they are having lots of fun!

If you are interested in joining our developmental programs, please contact Ariko Yoshizawa, MA at info@ecdevelopment.org or 323-655-5580.