From birth through adolescence, your child learns tiny, calculated muscle movements for navigating daily activities, enjoying hobbies, interacting with surroundings, and maneuvering various situations. Your child will discover how to write, create art, play instruments, participate in sports, and more through one precise movement at a time. The small actions that make these achievements possible are called fine motor skills.

What Are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skills are the small, highly coordinated muscle movements your child develops to succeed in life. They are precise actions that involve the wrists, hands, and fingers or the ankles, feet, and toes. The muscles in the hands and feet enable your child to create coordinated movements that help them navigate activities, such as eating with utensils, handwriting messages, or playing sports. Fine motor skills are essential for day-to-day living.

Common Fine Motor Milestones

While children grow at their own pace and may even achieve milestones at ages different than what is listed below, these are some common fine motor skills your child will develop over time:

  • 0 to 6 months: grasping things with both hands and eventually one hand. 
  • 6 to 12 months: pinching things, moving objects from one hand to the other, and putting toys in their mouth.
  • 1 to 2 years: stacking objects, self-feeding with eating utensils, and turning doorknobs.
  • 2 to 3 years: coloring with crayons between their thumb and first two fingers, manipulating putty, and turning single pages of books.
  • 3 to 4 years: creating towers with building blocks, using their non-dominant hand while playing or looking at objects, and trying to draw circles.
  • 4 to 5 years: printing their name, writing numbers 1 through 5, and dressing and undressing themselves.  
  • 5 to 6 years: coloring inside shapes without going over lines, using a three-finger grasp on drawing and writing utensils, and cutting out basic shapes with scissors. 
  • 6 to 7 years: writing most letters and numbers correctly, printing along notebook lines, and tying shoelaces.

Importance of Fine Motor Skills

With fine motor skills, your child holds the power to reach their fullest potential. Your child uses these tiny, exact muscle movements to care for themselves, eat, get dressed, write or type for communications or schoolwork, and much more.

Additionally, your child can explore and understand the world around them through these essential abilities. They can discover what things mean and how they work by handling objects and trying out activities like playing a musical instrument and doing arts and crafts.

Fine motor skills enable your child to participate in daily living, helping them to discover and follow their unique path to thriving.

When Should I Talk with a Professional?

If your child struggles with fine motor skills while navigating everyday activities, talk with a pediatrician or pediatric therapist about your observations and concerns. Either specialist can provide answers and, if needed, craft a personalized treatment plan to help your child develop fine motor skills.

Reach Out to First Steps for Expert Support

Are you ready to boost your child’s confidence with improved fine motor skills? At First Steps Pediatric Therapy, our team of therapists can help your child learn and refine these essential skills for everyday life. To gather more details or book your free 15-minute screening, call us today at (700) 900-7432.