Nursery Equipment: Fine Motor Skills - Helping hands

One of the changes in the revised EYFS is the transfer of 'handwriting' from Literacy to the 'Moving and handling' aspect of the Prime area Physical Development. This makes enormous sense because gaining the ability to use tools such as pencils takes place through a long journey of development in the bones, muscles, tendons and nerves within the hand, arm, shoulder and trunk - and all the joints in-between.

Hands are truly remarkable parts of the body, enabling us to do many actions that no other animal can. Reflecting on how you have used your hands in the past hour will give you some insight into their versatility and the extent to which we rely on them every moment of the day.

By recognising the 'journey' of the hand from closed, reflex-governed fist of the newborn to the dextrous hands of adulthood, practitioners will be better placed to support children in this developmental pathway.

What is important is that practitioners avoid rushing children into using a pencil. Ensuring that the right physical foundations for fine motor control are in place will result in happier, more effective and more enthusiastic writers in the long run.

This is a slow process that takes place through appropriate experiences over many years. The good news, however, is that all the body work and playful experiences that children love are just what is required for their gross and fine motor skills to develop - their bodies are programmed to seek what they need.

While babies' hands start to develop quickly following birth, the grasp reflex that controls their earliest movements must be overcome so that voluntary control can develop, and the major body developments that give rise to good fine motor control must take place.

• Overall balance and posture in the body are critical to fine motor co-ordination. Active play with lots of movement involved is essential

• Physical development takes place from the head towards the feet, and from the trunk out to the limbs and then the extremities, so whole-body movement and play (such as crawling) is vital for fine motor development

• The development of the shoulder is critical to the deployment of the hand, and use of the hand is integrated with elbow and wrist management. So there is a need to focus on upper and lower arm articulation, mobility and strength, as well as use of both hands - outdoor play is ideal for this

• Extensive tactile experience is essential in the first years to wire up the touch system fully. Interpreting incoming touch sensory information, integrating this well with the other senses and being able to respond is a constantly developing process that builds only through use

• To help develop their proprioceptive sense (see page 23), particularly in the arms and hands, children need to experience resistance and tension work such as lifting and carrying, pushing and pulling

• Touch, proprioception and vision must be well integrated if a child is to develop effective hand-eye co-ordination. This happens through plenty of whole-body movement and handling both large and small objects

• Object play and then tool use are highly valuable experiences that exercise the hand and help extend its capabilities.

EXPERIENCES TO PROVIDE

BABIES

• Handle babies' hands, stroking and gently pressing

• Offer objects for reaching and batting while the baby is lying on its back

• Time on the tummy is crucial for head, shoulder, neck, arm and wrist development, starts to open up the curled fist and provides proprioceptive and tactile sensory input. Ensure babies are happy on the floor by lying there with them

• Supply a wide range of objects with varying textures, shapes, sizes and weights for babies to grasp, hold, wave and release

• Provide self-supported sitting babies with materials that they can grasp, grip, twist, tap, bang, poke and squash

• Offer materials that are highly textured, such as sand, water and cornflour, or offer other sensory input, such as feeling warm or cold

• Ensure children have many different types of surface to crawl on indoors and outside to develop body and arm use, opening up of the hand and provide rich tactile and proprioceptive input. Crawling is critical for all aspects of development and should be encouraged as much as possible. Do not rush towards walking.

TODDLERS

• Once toddlers are up on their feet, their hands can be used in new ways. They lift, carry, push, pull, place and throw with enthusiasm, enjoying the pleasure of being able to make things move

• Provide a selection of containers with handles and large and small objects (such as pots, pans and wooden bricks and large pebbles) to pick up and transport. Provide objects to push and pull along (including brooms)

• Ensure indoor and outdoor environments have plentiful supplies of rich, tactile materials and objects that can be gathered, handled and manipulated, such as shells, gravel, pebbles, playdough, sand and mud, and including delicate items such as dandelions

• At around ten months, children start to develop the ability to extend the first finger. Help to promote this skill through pointing, naming and talking about everything the child is interested in, and supply mixtures such as cornflour, paint, shaving foam (for sensitive skin) and mud for children to poke and play with

• After the first year the thumb becomes increasingly opposable and toddlers deploy both a palmer grasp (to carry items against the body) and a pincer grip to pick up small items. Create opportunities for them to pick up and sort items by providing containers and, for example, leaves and shells

• Encourage toddlers to lie on their bellies and crawl, where the hands are used to push, press and pull themselves up (see Jabadao for ideas and resources).

TWO-YEAR-OLDS

• Two-year-olds need to continue with these experiences, building further development and refining abilities and skills, with an emphasis on being active and physical, incorporating lots of movement and using the whole body, as well as the hands

• To further develop finger and thumb opposition so that the more refined 'cortical opposition', where fingers are rounded rather than straight in the pincer grip (needed for good pencil control), provide plenty of physical floor games that work the hands and arms, as well as a wide range of small items to collect, pick up and manipulate in both indoor and outdoor environments

• Provide keys, locks, chains and other such mechanisms for two-year-olds to work on with both their hands and their inquisitive, inventive minds. This work develops separate control and co-ordination of each finger along with hand-eye co-ordination.

THREE TO FIVE-YEAR-OLDS

• Maintain an emphasis on movement, physical and whole-body activity through floor play, games with Lycra and huge elastic bands, bikes and push or pull vehicles

• Focus on shoulder, arm, wrist, hand and grip through enabling children to throw, skip, hang and climb on monkey bars or suitable branches and use larger pieces of equipment such as spades, brooms and household paint brushes and rollers. Also provide opportunities for wringing and twisting wet laundry in role play

• Integrate use of the hands with arm and body movements through outdoor construction, den making, pegging out wet laundry, largeand small-scale weaving and woodwork

• As well as providing a good range of mark-making materials, including chalks, help children learn how to operate office and household tools such as hole punchers, stamps, brushes and cleaning cloths

• Introduce a wide variety of kitchen implements in an outdoor 'mud kitchen', including, for example, a mortar and pestle, turkey baster, whisk and potato masher to encourage a range of movements

• Play lots of individual and group finger games and rhymes (see books listed).

CASE STUDY: ACTON PLAYGROUP, SUDBURY

With children's interests and gross motor development as their starting points, staff at Acton Playgroup plan opportunities and provide resources for children to develop their fine motor skills across the early years curriculum.

'We realise that children have to develop their gross motor skills before they can develop fine motor control, so we provide lots of opportunities for children to strengthen their large body muscles,' explains playgroup leader Kim Schwenk. 'But we also appreciate the need for children to develop their fine motor skills, so we go with their interests and add opportunities for them to explore with their fingers.

'One of the main activities that helps develop children's fine motor skills is cooking, something we do everyday. Children knead the bread, peel and chop vegetables and use kitchen utensils such as mashers and whisks. Our children also love washing clothes and pegging out the washing on the line.'

Some of the kitchen utensils can be found in the playgroup's treasure baskets, all full of objects for little fingers to explore.

Playing with malleable materials such as clay, playdough and cornflour is another regular feature of the playgroup's provision, often supplemented at the group's forest school by lots of mud play, weaving with natural materials and whittling wood.

Coloured sand, small-world vehicles and pebbles are just some of the items provided in the playgroup's table-top sand tray with a transparent base to spark exploration and promote fine motor development.

Along with the range of paintbrushes and chalks in the creative area is a painting window (see picture), enabling children to mirror each other's movements and paint on either side at the same time, with brushes or their fingers.

Using rollers on the setting's huge blackboard requires the children to make movements large and small, while in the writing area, you'll find a range of chunky pencils and pens. The playgroup also has a computer, enabling to children to start learning mouse control.

One of the few resources that the setting has bought to promote children's fine motor skills is a wooden toy for threading (see box).

'It doesn't have to cost a lot of money to help develop children's fine motor skills,' says Kim. 'Some things you can buy, but a lot you can collect as well.'

Painting windows available include the Floor Standing Painting Window (£163.15, Galt) and the Creative Painting Window (£219.95) and the Swing Out Easel (£179.95), both from TTS Group.

FINE MOTOR GAMES

The permanent provision and daily routines of a setting present endless opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills, from constructing to cooking, playing with malleable materials to gripping the handle bars on wheeled toys. Particular games and toys also lend themselves to developing these skills, particularly in older children within the EYFS.

Popular activities in some settings are weaving and threading, and while many nurseries make do with a wire fence as the frame, a Weaving, Plaiting and Sewing Frame Set (£99.00) is now available from Dickory Dock Designs.

The free-standing tubular frame, with easy access from both sides, is about 1m2 high and can be used indoors and out (and secured if necessary by tent pegs or by filling the base with sand). With the frame come three attachable sections: one with a set of coloured ribbons for weaving; five fabric strips and yarn sections to be tied to the top bar for plaiting or weaving; and for sewing, there is a fabric section, with ten plastic needles, textured thread, ribbons, coloured yarns, extra large buttons and two balls of multi-shaded, super-chunky yarn. The ribbons on the weaving option have the added advantage of being evenly spaced and secure but not too taut, so avoiding frustration as young children start to weave.

Suppliers large and small provide a huge variety of toys and games aimed at enhancing children's fine motor skills.

In Wesco's range, you'll find Buttons for Lacing (£16.40) and a Max Pack of Bead Mazes - spiral and three stalks (£26.50). Fit the pegs in its Geomosaic Kit with Grid to create a picture (£39.70) or challenge children to line up the 64 wooden characters for a Domino Race (£24.80).

Under the 'Threading' section on Spacekraft's website you'll find a Threading Tree (£17.95) and even a Threading Cheese (£10.95), as well as the Frizzle (£21.00), the Express Train (£54.00) and Twilight (£36.00), all three featuring beads to be moved along coloured loops. Among its sorter toys is the 4 Peg Shape Sorter (£8.50).

Hope Education's products range from Jumbo Wooden Dominoes (£9.95) and a Magnetic Fish Game (£25.95) to Wooden Animal Shaped Puzzles (four animals, each of four pieces, £19.95) and a Touch and Feel Puzzles Pack (three puzzles of four pieces, with textured surfaces underneath, £32.95).

Children will enjoy sewing rabbit's clothes (£6.73), tying laces on the Threading Shoe (£3.74) and fitting coloured wooden shapes in the Geo-Activity Cube (£10.85), all from Treeblocks.

MORE INFORMATION

• FR Wilson The Hand: how its use shapes the brain, language and human culture (Vintage Books)

• M Crawford The Case for Working with Your Hands (Viking)

• 'Babies Outdoors, Toddlers Outdoors, Two Year-olds Outdoors', Siren Films (with notes by Jan White)

• S Green Baby and Toddler Development Made Real (David Fulton Publishers)

• Jabadao resources for body and movement play, www.jabadao.org

Children's books

• C W Hudson Hands Can (Candlewick Press)

• B Pao Hands: A journey around the world (Thames & Hudson)

• W Cope and S Kindberg Twiddling Your Thumbs: Hand rhymes (Faber & Faber)

• M Brown Finger Rhymes (Picture Puffins)

SUPPLIERS

• www.dickorydockdesigns.co.uk

• www.hope-education.co.uk

• www.treeblocks.co.uk

• www.tts-group.co.uk

• www.wesco-eshop.co.uk

Additional reporting by Ruth Thomson