As a parent, it is very natural for you to be concerned regarding your child’s growth- physically, intellectually and socially in all phases of your child’s life.
In early years of childhood, you can expect various types of development that a child goes through. As, the child is exploring his/her new environment and the people around him/her; he/she learns and grasps new things.
This is generally referred to as “reaching a milestone”. You surely must have heard many parents talking about and being excited when their baby achieves a milestone.
For eg. my baby has started smiling to known faces; or my baby is able to sit up; or my baby has started to crawl/stand, walk, run, etc. Yipeee….all these are small small milestones which every child goes through.
But, you must remember that each and every child is different. Hence, the milestones for each child may differ. For eg. one child may start crawling earlier than the other, whereas one may not crawl at all but stand and walk directly.
So, you have to be patient and not enforce or fret if your child has not yet started doing something which other age children are doing. Sooner or later your child will eventually learn to do it.
But, as a parent you want to present your child with the best of environmental stimulation to help in the growth and development of your child. One such important development is the development of fine motor skills.
Statistics state that, around 80% of a child’s brain is fully developed by the time the child reaches 6 years of age. Hence, it is very important for all parents to provide good developmental stimulation to children in their early years of life.
So, the most common question that every parent comes across is “How do I enhance the development of fine motor skills in my child?”
Well, read on to know your answer! Before that first let us see what exactly are fine motor skills?
What Is Fine Motor Development In Children?
Fine motor development is the different types of movements your toddler performs. These movements imply components of your child’s muscle tissues. The movements that your baby makes as part of the fine motor improvement or motor skills are voluntary.
At the time of birth, your baby’s nervous system is still immature. Hence, there will be considerable motor development and growth in the first year and early childhood.
Fine Motor Development Facts In Children
Before you understand the various fine motor skills, here are a few impressive statistics about your child’s fine motor development.
- During the first few years of life, they will learn to discover daily activities and occurrences through involuntary physical moves. Such actions take place gradually and follow a series.
- The rate at which your baby’s fine motor development occur will fluctuate from other children.
- The direction of fine motor development in your baby occurs from head to toe. Your baby will first learn to control the head and the neck.
- For gross motor capabilities, your baby uses larger muscles that help them with actions like sitting, crawling, standing and walking. Maximum of these motor developments happen during the first year.
- In fine motor skills, your infant develops control in the smaller muscles that assist gain control of the hands and fingers. Such improvement will help your child in finer activities like grasping, dressing up, selecting and feeding.
- Children can frequently reach different skills and improvement at various stages, even within themselves. For instance, your child may learn to grasp and pick up objects faster than most children. On the other hand, your infant may be a gradual learner when it comes to sitting up or walking, as compared to other kids.
What Are The Skills To Develop At Each Age Group Of Toddler?
Kids who are 6 months to 3 years of age are considered toddlers and the toddler stage refers to the time between infancy and preschool age when children are walking, learning to be independent and mastering the essential gross and fine motor skills they will need to move around in and participate in their environment.
Fine motor skills enhance naturally through developmentally suitable play, so toddlers require plenty of time to discover and experiment with age-appropriate toys, manipulatives and art materials.
0-6 Months
- At this age, kids demonstrate a reflexive grasp when objects are placed in hand.
- Reaching for and grasping objects.
- Mastering controlled reach (6 months).
- Holding objects in the palm of 2 hands (by 3 months) or a palm of one hand (by 5 months).
- Recovering an object dropped within their visual field, by feel, or hear it within reaching range.
6-12 Months
- At the age of 6-12 months, kids reach and grasp to put objects in the mouth.
- Demonstrating controlled release of objects.
- Picking up small objects with thumb and one finger.
- Transferring objects from one hand to the other.
- Banging 2 cubes held in hands, both objects together in the body’s mid-line.
- Poking and pointing with the index finger.
- Recovering an object dropped within their visual field, by feel, or hear it within reaching range.
1-2 Years
- Building a tower of three small blocks.
- Putting rings on a stick.
- Turning pages of a book (two or three at a time).
- Turning knobs.
- Painting using whole arm movements to make strokes.
- Eating independently (with minimal assistance ok).
- Signing to communicate wants and needs.
- Bringing a spoon to mouth.
- Holding and drinking from a cup independently.
- Picking up small objects with thumb and one finger.
- Putting shapes into a shape sorter without assistance.
2-3 Years
- Stringing 3-4 large beads.
- Building a tower of 3-5 small blocks.
- Copying a simple sequence of coloured blocks in a tower.
- Turning single pages in a book.
- Making snips with scissors.
- Holding a crayon with thumb and fingers.
- Using one hand consistently for most activities.
- Imitating circular, vertical and horizontal strokes.
- Eating without assistance.
- Picking up small objects with thumb and one finger.
- Completing insert puzzles.
What Are Fine Motor Skills For Kids?
The activities that you plan for your kids will go a long way in ensuring that the fine motor abilities and the development of fingers, hands, wrists, legs, etc., are all on the proper track.
Here are my suggestions for fine motor skills development for kids.
Fun With Play Dough
Playing with the play dough can never cross wrong! The play dough is gentle to squeeze but is strong enough to give sufficient exercise to the fingers and palms of your little one.
Stretching and squeezing the play dough strengthens the toddler’s hands, wrists and fingers.
Additionally, making unique shapes with the play dough develops your kid’s sensory experience.
Draw With Crayons
Give your child some small crayons or damaged crayons and a simple plain sheet of paper with a few blocks or shapes that are drawn on it.
Now, guide your toddler to colour the blocks or shapes as according to their wish.
The pastime will help your child to understand strokes and colours better in future.
Pull Out The Stickers
Have a big sheet of various forms of stickers on it. Also, have a simple chart paper with you.
You can ask your little one to pull out the stickers from the sheet and to paste it on a plain chart paper.
Pulling out the stickers are commonly entertaining for kids. This exercise also helps your kids with their hand movement.
Homemade Tweezers
This is an amusing workout and enables in developing the fine motor skills of your kid. Give your kid a straw and display him/her the way to make tweezers.
You can accomplish that by bending the straw into half and add a tape to hold it by securing the top edge of the straw where it is bent.
Though this will not be a robust tweezer, working on it is going to be enjoyable for your infant!
Fun With Paper Dolls
You can constantly teach your kid to make a few paper dolls. It’s clean, fun and helps in improving the creativity and the motor abilities of your kid.
You can have your child make paper dolls of animals or plants or any other items.
Colouring the paper dolls with watercolours is going to be a lot of fun for your little infant.
Finger Painting
Children have droll in making colourful paintings with their fingers and enjoy a lot with the colours.
Give your kid an empty chart paper and some colours that she/he can put on her fingers.
Allow her/him then lay the fingerprints on the drawing book or the chart paper and have fun as she draws images of her creativeness.
Paper Cutting
Draw a certain shape of an object on the paper and ask your child to cut it along the borders of the drawing.
Teach your kid to utilize blunt scissors and ask them to cut different shapes from a piece of paper.
Let your child place the paper cuttings on a table or arrange them as per their wish; this helps in developing their thinking capability and motor skills.
Foods To Include In Their Daily Diet
The ways to improve your child’s exceptional motor skills are really limitless, but finding methods that are both functional and motivating will yield the best results.
Using foods to aid your child enhance their fine motor skills is functional because of all the strength, dexterity, and in-hand manipulation required to open and eat the food. And really, what could be more motivating for kids than the food?
So, here is a list of top few healthy foods that your child can peel, squeeze, tear, and open to improve their fine motor skills!
Growing children need sufficient nutrients for development.
1. Berries
Strawberries and blueberries contain vitamin C, antioxidants and phyto chemical properties. They protect healthy cells of your toddler from damage by boosting the immune system.
How to prepare it: Use berries as toppings for ice cream, yoghurt, pancakes and cereal. Include blueberries to pancake batter to make blueberry pancakes.
2. Eggs
Eggs are generally high in protein and vitamins; they are one of the most abundant sources of choline – an essential nutrient that aids brain enhancement.
How to prepare it: Boil, fry or scramble them, or make omelettes. Add them to soups, porridge, gravy, rice and noodles, or make desserts like custard.
3. Cow’s Milk
It is an amazing source of calcium and phosphorous, which are essential for building bones and muscles. Serve a big glass of full-fat milk, not low-fat or skimmed varieties, if your child is not yet two years old. Unless she/he is overweight, she/he will require the extra energy to grow.
How to prepare it: For a quick and easy breakfast, serve milk with cereal or cookies, or blend with fruits to prepare smoothies.
4. Peanut Butter
Peanut butter contains a large number of monounsaturated fats, peanut butter provides children with energy and protein. However, some brands contain added salt, sugar, palm oil and partially hydrogenated fats, which reduce nutritional quality.
How to prepare it: Spread it on biscuits, or eat it straight from the jar. You can also drizzle it over any flavour of ice cream or waffles.
Caution – Too much biscuits and bread is not good for your liitle one and hence prefer muligrain option or brown breads.
5. Whole Grain Foods
The fibre present in these foods maintains your toddler’s digestive health and avoids constipation.
How to prepare it: Give your child wholegrain cereals and biscuits as snacks. Mix whole grains (brown rice or whole grain bread) with refined grains (white rice or white bread) to help her get used to the taste.
6. Meat
It is an excellent source of protein and iron. Iron optimises brain development and function and supports the immune system.
How to prepare it: Choose tender cuts of meat, and mince or cut into small pieces. Combine minced beef, chicken or fish with mashed tofu, eggs, breadcrumbs or mashed potatoes to make meatballs or patties.
7. Fish
Packed with protein, fish helps build healthy muscles and bones. Oily fish like salmon, tuna and sardines also contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which support eye, brain and nerve development.
How to prepare it: Coat fish in a batter of rice krispies, crushed cornflakes or wholegrain breadcrumbs. Mix fish with rice, tofu or potatoes to make sushi, fish balls or fishcakes.
8. Broccoli
It is fully packed with nutrients that optimise eye development and ward off cell damage. It also provides lots of fibre that boosts digestion and prevents constipation.
How to prepare it: Consider fresh broccoli and cut it into small florets and blanch. Serve with dips (salad dressing, cheese sauce, tomato ketchup or sesame sauce) or sprinkle grated cheese over it. You can also use this amazing vegetable as a topping for pizza or a filling for omelettes.
9. Brightly Coloured Fruits And Vegetables
These incorporate carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, tomato and papaya, which are high in beta-carotene and other carotenoids that are converted into active vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is very important for healthy skin and vision, growth and repair of body tissues.
How to prepare it: Cut vegetables into sticks and steam them before serving with dips like salsa, cheese sauce or hummus. Turn fruits into ice popsicles by cutting them into cubes and freezing them.
These activities are the best ways to bond with your child plus they are so functional, motivating and delicious!! Eat your heart out!!
Foods To Avoid For Your Baby
As your toddler grows, he/she’ll be keen to sample food from your plate – and you’ll be eager to add variety to his diet. But not all foods are secure for your child at every age.
Below are the few foods to avoid.
Salt
Kid’s generally shouldn’t consume much salt, as it isn’t good for their kidneys. Don’t consider salt to your baby’s food and don’t use stock cubes or gravy, as they’re often high in salt.
Remember this when you are cooking for the family if you plan to offer the same food to your baby.
Sugar
Your baby doesn’t require sugar. By avoiding sugary contained snacks and drinks (including fruit juice and other fruit drinks), you’ll help prevent tooth decay.
Use mashed banana or other fruits, breast milk or formula milk to sweeten food, if required.
Honey
Occasionally, honey consists of bacteria that can create toxins in a baby’s intestines, leading to infant botulism, which is a severe illness.
It’s very best not to give your child honey until they are 1 year old. Honey is a sugar, so avoiding it’ll also help prevent tooth decay.
Nuts
Whole nuts, incorporating peanuts, shouldn’t be given to children under 5, as they can choke on them.
As long as there’s no history of food allergies or other allergies in your family, you can give your baby peanuts once they’re 6 months old, as long as they’re compressed or ground into peanut butter.
Raw Jelly Cubes
Raw jelly cubes can be a choking hazard for toddlers and young children. If you are making jelly from raw jelly cubes, make sure you always follow the manufacturer’s’ instructions.
Saturated Fat
Don’t give your child too many fried foods that are high in saturated fat, such as crisps, biscuits, fried potatoes, burgers and cakes. As these foods may affect your child’s health, as well as make them lazy, they may become obese and also show impartiality in playing activities.
Motor development is a very fine skill that you can cheer with various types of tools and toys. Ensure you let your child play and try things by himself.
Do keep a lookout for the motor development in children at a certain age. In case you feel the developments are extremely delayed, consult to a doctor about it at once.
At what age did your kid reach key motor development milestones? Do tell us your story. Leave a comment.
