Fine motor skills allow you to control the small muscles in the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, and toes. They’re essential for a variety of everyday tasks, such as using utensils, brushing teeth, buttoning up clothes, tying shoelaces, and writing. That’s why child development specialists urge parents to teach their little ones fine motor skills from an early age. If you’re not sure how to encourage these skills, check out these five ideas.

How to Enhance Your Child’s Fine Motor Skills

1. Paint & Draw

Along with promoting creativity, painting and drawing strengthen hand-eye coordination. Parents can introduce toddlers to the world of art with some simple finger painting. As your children age, teach them how to use paintbrushes, crayons, chalk, and colored pencils. When kids learn to control these items, they’ll have an easier time brushing their teeth, eating with utensils, and performing other basic tasks independently.

2. Manipulate Play Dough

Like painting and drawing, play dough allows kids to work their way up to more complicated tasks, depending on their age and skill level. Encourage your child to pinch, squish, pull, or roll the dough in any shape they wish. Then, work together to shape it into particular shapes, such as snakes, stars, or snails. For more complex play-dough projects, teach your child to cut the dough with kid-friendly scissors.

3. Build With Blocks

In addition to improving hand-eye coordination, playing with blocks helps kids strengthen their hand muscles. Show toddlers how to stack towers, and encourage older children to build bridges and pyramids. Your kids can even incorporate play dough as makeshift mortar between smooth blocks.

4. Solve Puzzles

Putting together a puzzle sharpens the pincer grasp, or the ability to hold an item between the index finger and thumb. Begin with simple puzzles that consist of a few large pieces before moving on to more complex ones. Since some kids will get frustrated easily and want to give up, child development specialists recommend helping out when necessary.

5. Play With Tweezers

Using small plastic tweezers is another way for kids to practice their pincer grasp. To make it fun, grab an empty bowl and fill another bowl with rice, coins, or buttons. Work together to transfer the objects into the empty bowl using the tweezers. If your child struggles, try slightly larger objects like pony beads or grapes. For older kids, turn it into a competition to see who can transfer all the objects first.

Help your little one master fine motor skills by turning to the team at Great Beginnings. With locations in St. Charles and Cottleville, MO, this trusted child development center offers programs for children of all ages, from infants to 12-year-olds. The licensed instructors are dedicated to creating a compassionate learning environment where all kids can thrive. Learn more about their programs online. Call (636) 724-5048 to speak to someone in St. Charles or (636) 447-4212 for the Cottleville location.