Fine motor skills practice can happen in so many ways at home! From opening containers, picking up small items, snipping pictures from magazines, using a squirt bottle to clean something, playing with playdoh, lacing cards, putting beads on a string, using tweezers to pick up cotton balls, putting coins in bank, cutting pieces of grass, picking up small rocks, to coloring with broken crayons/chalk...the possibilities are endless. Think of ways to just have your child practice using the small muscles. It can be inside or outside play.
When looking at your child's pencil grip look for these things:
1. Is the thumb on the pencil? It not, add a sticker or mark on the writing tool to cue them to hold their thumb on the pencil/writing tool.
2. Is the wrist down on the paper when they are writing? If not, you can cue them to put their wrist down while coloring, have the color on their tummy with prompt to keep wrist down, or tape the paper to a vertical surface (wall, fridge, easel, etc) to get the wrist in proper position.
3. Is the pencil or writing tool resting on middle or ring finger (above picture is resting on middle finger)? If not, you can add a small item for the child to hold in pinky and ring finger to start increasing the stability in this part of their hand for resting the writing tool when they color and write. Small items might be a bead, pom pom, piece of cotton, tissue paper, or coin. (see picture below)
When looking at your child's pencil grip look for these things:
1. Is the thumb on the pencil? It not, add a sticker or mark on the writing tool to cue them to hold their thumb on the pencil/writing tool.
2. Is the wrist down on the paper when they are writing? If not, you can cue them to put their wrist down while coloring, have the color on their tummy with prompt to keep wrist down, or tape the paper to a vertical surface (wall, fridge, easel, etc) to get the wrist in proper position.
3. Is the pencil or writing tool resting on middle or ring finger (above picture is resting on middle finger)? If not, you can add a small item for the child to hold in pinky and ring finger to start increasing the stability in this part of their hand for resting the writing tool when they color and write. Small items might be a bead, pom pom, piece of cotton, tissue paper, or coin. (see picture below)
You can also use a clothes pin to help your child hold their pencil or writing tool (crayon, marker, etc) in a better posture if you are noticing that they are lacking any of the skills listed above in 1-3.
Tracing and adhering to small boundaries like mazes are great for fine motor skills. Take out a Highlighter and have your child try to trace letters in their name, alphabet, numbers or sight words while staying on your highlighted lines. If they can do this, have them try to copy the words below your written ones and see how they do! Be sure to follow proper letter formation (see picture below to see how letters should be formed). If your child is not doing letters yet, see previous post on prewriting strokes to do this same activty with shapes
Other posts we have done for working on pencil grasp include: Here are some great resources about developing pencil grasp and fine motor skills:
If you have any questions or need resources/ideas, contact your OT via email by clicking the button below and locating your students OT. If you do not know who the OT is, send a contact to any of the OT staff and we will get your questions to the right person!
Other posts we have done for working on pencil grasp include: Here are some great resources about developing pencil grasp and fine motor skills:
- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByoD8Kobq5WuTG5lLU5IU05tX1BfY2lVLWlGbHNCUVdYcUNz
- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hz0gT9UPvF2QbocU-z0qbgwLH3pT9X6MCDScNMzlrIY
- https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByoD8Kobq5WuQUJkcnljUkJGN1o2MEE4WWppVVdCdUVxcXJV
- https://www.theottoolbox.com/fine-motor-skills/
- https://www.growinghandsonkids.com/activities-fine-motor-skills-development
If you have any questions or need resources/ideas, contact your OT via email by clicking the button below and locating your students OT. If you do not know who the OT is, send a contact to any of the OT staff and we will get your questions to the right person!