Children’s fine motor skills: are they falling behind?

As technology becomes more integrated into daily life, some experts are concerned that children are not developing fine motor skills at the same rate as previous generations.

Child development specialist and founder of Building All Children, Kendra Morgan, says that an overreliance on screens may be limiting children's opportunities to strengthen these essential skills.

What Are Fine Motor Skills?

"Fine motor skills are the small muscles in our hands that our children use, and they're so important," Morgan said. "We're finding that more and more children are just being given the screen during dinner at restaurants or events, and so they're not writing and kind of building those fine motor muscles as much as they used to."

These skills are crucial for daily activities such as buttoning clothes, zipping jackets, and using small objects.

"Writing will be one," Morgan said. "Buttoning, anything little, building with Legos, any small manipulative things, all of those little tiny things that your hand muscles do. It takes building, and their hands are still developing."

Fine Motor Skills and Early Learning

Morgan explained that fine motor skills play a key role in a child's ability to write and, in turn, read.

"I think our culture is, 'Let's get these kids reading as soon as possible,' but it's a developmental thing, and reading is hard, and it takes time," she said. "What we know is writing and reading go together, so the more that we can put a pencil in their hand, a crayon in their hand, give them some paper, let them scribble, let them start learning the basic skills of writing—it will actually help their reading."

By the age of three and a half to four, children should be able to draw a stick figure and begin making recognizable shapes.

"You shouldn't be able to recognize everything," Morgan said, "but they really should be able to start making some shapes and some designs."

Building Fine Motor Skills Through Play

Zip, Zip, Zoom

Morgan introduced several activities that can help children strengthen their fine motor skills, including the "Zip, Zip, Zoom" technique.

"This is a developmental thing," she said. "To teach a child to start a line and stop a line, when they're drawing and you're drawing with them, we want you to say the word 'zip.' So going across is a developmental thing, and then going up and down is another developmental thing."

Stringing Beads

She also suggested activities like stringing beads, which improve dexterity.

"Start big," Morgan advised. "We have the big blocks, the big buttons, and then they go to the smaller beads. These are things you can throw in a bag that is so easy and so simple to do."

Tweezers

For an even simpler way to build fine motor strength, Morgan recommends using tweezers. "Tweezers—picking up and moving things over—it’s crazy, but kids really concentrate and work really hard at it," she said. "If you don't have tweezers, we love clothespins. It does the same thing."

Play-Doh

Morgan also emphasized the benefits of Play-Doh, calling it a must-have for parents.

"I think everyone should, if you have children, you should have Play-Doh in your bag," she said. "It's easy to pull out, you can stuff little beads in it, have them work it and mold it, and it strengthens all of those fine motor muscles."

Encouraging Development in Everyday Life

Another tool Morgan recommends is a clipboard, which provides a solid surface for children to draw and write.

"These are not expensive," she said. "We think a clipboard should always be in your car so that children are in the back writing. It allows them to use a little bit of their shoulder muscle, versus sitting at a table writing."

She also suggested an easy household item for building hand strength: a spray bottle.

"Fill it up with water, have them go into the shower and spray," Morgan said. "They think they're helping, but it works the largest muscles in their hands. Have them go outside, and spray the fence. It doesn’t make a mess, and it really allows them to strengthen those larger muscles in their hands, and they'll end up being better writers."