Most adults take their hands for granted and are able to use them effortlessly. This is not the case for very young children. They have to work hard to fold paper, use scissors and even feed themselves.
The development of hand movements is usually referred to as fine motor or manipulative development. For young children, the development of fine motor skills is closely linked to other areas of their development. Children who are able to pick up, touch and explore objects physically will be able to find out more about their environment, promoting their cognitive development in the process. They are also likely to gain in confidence, as the development of fine motor skills is closely linked to self-help skills such as being able to get dressed, wash and dry hands and pour out drinks.
From baby to school
The development of fine motor skills is gradual. At first babies have no control over their hand and arm movements. Hands are sources of fascination and comfort to young babies, who stare and play with them. By six months, however, the situation begins to change, and most babies are able to use both hands to hold and grasp objects. By the time a baby is a year old, the bones in their wrists and hands will have begun to harden, which allows them greater control and movement. They begin to take delight in picking up small objects and using their fingers to point.
Repetitive play, which Piaget referred to as 'mastery play', is also a feature of this age range. Babies and toddlers repeat movements over and over again, which helps to strengthen the muscles. By two years old, most children have developed a range of manipulative skills. They can turn pages in books, make marks on paper and put together a simple jigsaw.
The process continues as children in the Foundation Stage learn new hand skills by playing with a range of materials. By the time most children are six or seven years old, they will have gained the full range of hand movements. This does not mean that development is complete, however, as it is not until adolescence that the bones have finished growing and forming.
Core activities
There are plenty of enjoyable activities that can help develop muscles in the hand, wrist and arm. Sensory activities involving dough, water and sand are particular winners. The pleasure in touching and handling such materials acts as a positive reinforcement and is likely to encourage the child to repeat movements. Try putting out dough with scissors or sponges in water and see how the children (and also any adults with them) make the same movements over and over again. This repetition builds strength in the muscles.
As well as providing for the 'core activities' of sand, water and paint, you could offer a selection of shells, buttons and other small objects that children can sort and manipulate with tools, perhaps scooping them with spoons or picking them up with tweezers.
Pace and challenge
The key to providing beneficial activities is to make sure that while they provide some challenge, they will not leave the child frustrated. Open-ended activities are good in this respect because children can find and choose their own way of doing them. Making a collage with interesting textured materials, and using an emergent writing table brimming with paper that can be folded and envelopes, are two examples of activities that children can 'play' at while developing their fine manipulative skills.
Children will also need to play at their own pace. For many this simply means having plenty of time and being able to do things in their own way. Forcing children to play with materials or use them in a certain way is likely to cause frustration, more so when children feel that they are not 'achieving' what the adult is expecting.
This is especially true of 'pencil control' activities such as tracing which, although it may be popular with parents, runs contrary to the notion of allowing children to develop at their own speed. Tracing, for example, can cause children to tense their shoulders and hands, creating a poor writing posture. Children who leave pre-school settings with this posture run the risk of never being able to master fluent handwriting, and their hands will hurt after periods of prolonged writing.
It is therefore reassuring to see that the Foundation Stage curriculum emphasises the mastery of fine motor through play-based activities, not through adult-imposed worksheets.
Involving parents
Finally, it is worth finding ways of valuing the development of fine motor skills. While they are crucial to children's overall development, they sometimes go unnoticed by parents. Consider talking to parents about ways in which they can help their children's hand skills to develop at home. Can their child help to dry up, lay the table and put things away? You might also like to have a display board that shows the type of hand movements that are gained through play in sand, water, dough and other play activities that you are providing.
Student links
* This article links to elements C3.4 of the NVQ 3 in Early Years Childcare and Education.
Evidence collector: If you are a student on placement, you may wish to carry out the following activity that will encourage children to use fine motor skills.
Activity: Teddy has been playing tricks in the sand tray
Resources: Tray of sand, rice
Method: Working with an individual child or small group of children, ask children if they can see some odd grains of rice in the sandpit. Has Teddy been playing tricks on them? See if the children can find them and take them out. They can attempt this by scooping, sieving or just by running the sand through in their hands.
