Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Development Fine ...

Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Development

Fine Motor Fun Module 2 Lesson 6

Summary Notes

2 www.shawacademy.com

PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA IN EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

Contents

3 Introduction

3 Lesson outcomes

3 Fine motor development

7 Grasps

8 Fine motor stimulation

11 Conclusion

12 References



Introduction Here is my handprint,

Five fingers in all,

Outside they are short,

But the middle is tall,

You will find them on windows,

You can find them on the wall,

They will make a big mess,

For something so small.

One day I will grow,

And leave them no more,

My handprints will be missed,

Of that, I am sure.

Fine motor development

What is fine motor development? While gross motor skills refer to the use and coordination of the large muscles of the body, fine motor skills refer to the

coordination of small muscles in movements. These muscles most often refer to the synchronisation and use of the hands

and fingers.

Fine motor development then refers to how these fine motor skills develop as babies grow into toddlers and children.

Fine motor skills can either be used as a blanket term to all tasks that require the use of the hands, or it can be broken

down into smaller terms of function.

Lesson outcomes By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Understand what fine motor development is

• Know how fine motor skills develop

• Know the key principles for successful fine motor stimulation

• Be able to identify and partake in fine motor play with a child



Here are some of the terms that are frequently used in conjunction with fine motor skills:

Eye-hand coordination

Eye-hand or hand-eye coordination refers to the ability to use your vision to coordinate the information you received from

your eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands to complete a task. As babies learn to control their limbs and move it into

their visual field to grasp objects and bring them to their mouths, they will start to use this skill. As this becomes easier and

they gain more control over their limbs, they will start involving smaller muscles to help them further explore their toys

and surroundings.

Here is an overview of how eye-hand coordination develops to help you understand how development takes place from

big and general to fine and coordinated movements:

• Birth to three years:

- Start to develop vision that allows them to follow slowly moving objects with their eyes

- Begin to develop basic hand-eye skills, such as reaching, grasping, feeding, and dressing

- Develop the ability to manipulate objects with fine motor skills

• Three to five years:

- Continue to develop hand-eye coordination skills and will develop a preference for left or right-

handedness

- Develop the ability to climb, balance, run, jump, gallop, and climb stairs one at a time

- Develop eye-hand-body coordination

• Five to seven years:

- Improve fine motor skills, such as handling writing utensils and scissors

- Continue to develop the ability to skip, balance, climb, run, jump

- Handedness improves

- Learns to focus vision for schoolwork for an extended amount of time

Visual-motor integration

Do you remember this term from our previous lessons? To recap, visual-motor integration refers to the ability to perceive

something and then correctly replicate it using motor patterns. In essence, this skill comes down to drawing, copying, and

writing.

It may seem like it is just a different form of eye-hand coordination, but visual-motor integration skills are a much more

advanced skill than eye-hand coordination.

Where eye-hand coordination only has to focus on guiding and coordinating movement for fine motor tasks, visual-motor

integration is a combination of perceptual skills (to understand what you are seeing) and motor coordination (establishing

and using motor patterns). This skill only starts to develop between the ages of 3 and 4 years, when children start to copy

and draw basic lines and shapes. Whereas eye-hand coordination starts to develop from birth as babies start moving their

limbs and eyes.



Motor coordination

Motor coordination forms part of motor planning. We discussed motor planning in the previous lesson but to recap –

motor planning is the skill to think about what you want to do, plan the steps to do it, and then execute the task,

ultimately creating a motor pattern for that task.

Motor coordination is when multiple parts of the body are used in a coordinated way to execute these motor planning

steps. Motor coordination, therefore, forms part of the execution-step in the motor planning process and is basically just

how the body controls muscles to execute tasks. Motor coordination is therefore essential in getting a task right and laying

down a successful motor pattern to use in future situations. Motor coordination is crucial for the ability to learning writing

and drawing skills.

Dexterity

Dexterity refers to the readiness and grace with which fine motor tasks are performed. The more that we do a task, the

easier it becomes, and the more our dexterity increases. Think about someone who is an expert knitter, compared to

someone who is just starting out. Remember that at Shaw academy we also have a handcrafts course if you want to

increase your own dexterity!

Bilateral integration

We have discussed bilateral integration at length in the previous lesson. Do you remember that bilateral integration

consists of symmetrical, alternating/reciprocal, and asymmetrical movements? The same is also true for fine motor tasks.

The ultimate goal of bilateral integration development is to help children be able to do a task with their dominant hand,

while their non-dominant hand provides support. Examples of this are when one hand holds the paper steady, while the

other hand draws or where one hand moves the paper, while the other hand cuts.

Other examples of fine motor activities that require bilateral integration are the following:

• Threading beads

• Using a knife and fork

• Doing buttons

• Lacing activities

• Using a ruler

Midline crossing

The midline of the body is the imaginary line that goes down the centre of the body and divides it into a left and right side.

As babies grow up and develop control of both sides of their bodies, as well as gain trunk control and improve their body

awareness, they will start developing the ability to cross their midline.

This may seem like a silly milestone but being able to twist your body and move across your midline in the opposite

direction takes plenty of muscle and coordination power to do successfully. Initially, babies will start working towards

getting both hands to their midline at the same time. After this, they will pick something up with the hand that is closest to

it, take it to the midline and hand it over to the other hand. This skill will be used until they are about 4 years old. By this

age, they would have developed sufficient gross motor skills (specifically trunk rotation) and bilateral integration skills to

start spontaneously crossing the midline. From here, as their dominance starts to emerge and develop, they will tend to

reach out and across their midline with the dominant hand during tasks. This skill will continue until dominance is well-

established – usually between the ages of 6 and 8 years. Midline crossing is important for the continued development of

trunk muscles and dominance.



Grasps:

We will discuss grasp and grasp development in more detail later in this lesson, but it is important to know that grasps are

not a static thing that just happens somewhere along the line. Instead, grasps evolve and develop slowly but surely over

time and are made perfectly for each stage of development along the way.

Manipulation:

When we talk about fine motor manipulation, it refers to our ability to handle and use objects to complete fine motor

tasks. Examples of fine motor manipulation are the following:

• Rotating a toy to see all its sides

• Writing

• Cutting

• Dressing and undressing (buttons, zips, laces)

Fine motor manipulation, grasps, and dexterity are closely related terms, and good manipulation skills are developed with

the support of an appropriate grasp, and good manipulation skills will result in improved dexterity.

Do you recognise some of these terms from our discussion in the previous lesson? That is because fine motor skills build

on gross motor skills. Development, in general, tends to go from big, general movements to smaller, more refined, and

coordinated movements. So, in order to use eye-hand coordination in fine motor tasks, we need to be able to use eye-

body coordination skills first. In order to cross our midline and use asymmetrical bilateral integration in fine motor skills,

we must first be able to do these skills in gross motor activities.

How do babies develop fine motor skills? Fine motor skills develop as a result of gross motor development. As gross motor development takes place from top to

bottom and inside to outside, these movements will ultimately lead to innervation of the smaller muscles as well. This will

ultimately lead to a cycle of development where improved gross motor skills will lead to improved fine motor

development. And improved fine motor development will result in a baby using their fine motor skills more often, meaning

that they will need more support from their gross motor muscles to keep the arm in the right position for the tasks –

leading to improved gross motor endurance.

Here is an overview of how fine motor skills develop:

0-3 months:

• Places hands in mouth

• Attempts to reach for toys in their midline

3-6 months:

• Reaches for toys while on their tummy

• Transfers toys from one hand to the other

• Reaches both hands to play with feet

• Holds and shakes a toy using both hands

• Starts “raking” objects closer with fingers



6-9 months:

• Able to hold and drink from a bottle

• Explores and examines an object using both hands and mouth

• Starts turning several pages of a hard/board book at once

• Starts to isolate the index finger to touch things

• Starts finger feeding – with limited success

9-12 months:

• Finger feeds with ease

• Can release objects into a container

• Starts to use thumb and index finger to pick up tiny objects

• Bangs objects together

• Holds a toy with one hand

12-15 months:

• Able to start stacking two objects or blocks

• Helps with getting undressed

• Holds and drinks from a cup

15-24 months:

• Builds a block tower

• Turns pages one by one

• Scribbles on a piece of paper

• Eats with a spoon

• Holds a crayon with a pincer grasp

2-3 years:

• Turns a doorknob

• Washes hands

• Zips and unzips clothing

• Strings beads on a string

3-4 years:

• Can button and unbutton clothes

• Starts to use scissors

• Starts tracing/copying basic lines and shapes on paper

Remember that these are just fine motor milestone guidelines and not definite rules, as long as a baby is showing drive

and interest in development and is progressing towards these milestones, there should not be cause for concern.



Effect of fine motor skills on development So how do these fine motor skills enhance learning and development in the other developmental areas of a child? Here is a

list of how fine motor skills continue to promote the development of other areas:

• Fine motor skills develop as a result of improved gross motor stability. As gross motor stability improves, babies

are able to lift their hands off the ground and use them for play and discovery. By not using their hands for

support, their gross motor muscles have to work even harder and through this, they will improve even more.

Try this example out and see how hard your muscles have to work in both scenarios. Lie on your tummy, with your

stomach on touching the floor. Use your arms to get your chest off the ground by holding them palms facing down on both

sides of your chest. In yoga, this is called the cobra pose. Feel how hard your back muscles are working. Now, try and lift

both arms off the floor and maintain the position. How hard are your back muscles working in comparison to when your

arms were there for extra support?

• By tracking and moving towards fine motor objects and play, we are stimulating and practising the visual system.

• By exploring toys and objects with fine motor skills, babies are stimulating their tactile sensory system – which

leads to improved cognitive and perceptual development.

• By improving fine motor strength and endurance of both hands, children are better able to develop a dominant

side, master bilateral integration skills, improve their motor planning abilities, and have better motor

coordination skills.

• By continuously stimulating fine motor development from birth until formal education starts, we are setting our

children up to have the correct pencil grasp, be able to take part in fine motor tasks with success (which will boost

their confidence), and make it easier for them to learn how to draw and write.

Grasps

Grasp development Did you know that just like everything else we have discussed about children, grasps also evolve and develop gradually

over time? The beautiful pencil grasp we work towards for writing will not be available for use until children are well into

their early childhood years and will take a few interesting shapes along the way. The idea is that with enough stimulation,

grasps will continue to develop until we have the perfect grasp to hold a pencil and handle small and large objects.

But in today’s day and age, we often find that children are taking part in less fine motor activities in play (partly due to

extended screen time and electronic toys) and that this is causing fine motor delays and incorrect grasp development.

While children are toddlers, they do not form too many grasp habits as their bodies and approaches to tasks continue to

change but as they grow older they are more likely to form grasp habits and often we find that children become “stuck”

somewhere along the line of grasp development and that the grasp where they were stuck at for a long time, is the grasp

they are using as part of this habit. It can be very difficult to change a grasp once a child is past a certain age, and therefore

it is important to know how grasps develop and when to encourage children to continue along this developmental path.

Many adults also think that in order to improve or build towards the correct pencil grasp, children should be practising

holding and using pencils from a very early age, but this is not the truth. Children are supposed to start their grasp

development with big objects and as their dexterity and manual manipulation skills develop, they will start handling

smaller and smaller objects more efficiently. This journey of grasp development has many important steps that should be

a part of their development in order to reach that perfect pencil grasp when they are older. That is why the focus in early



childhood development is not to practise a pencil grasp, but rather to strengthen the hands and fingers to such an extent

that when they are introduced to a pencil, the correct grasp will naturally occur. You will often find that therapists who

have the task to help a child correct their grasp will not do much pencil work, to begin with, but will rather focus on

identifying where the weaker muscles and motor patterns are and correct it through appropriate fine motor play.

So let’s take a look at how grasps develop from birth until we reach that perfect pencil grasp:

0-4 months:

• Palmar grasp reflex is present from birth to allow babies to grasp objects reflexively without having to think

or plan it. When you put your finger in a baby’s hand, they will instinctively close their fingers around the

object. Palmar means “inside the palm” and this is where the reflex occurs. Because this is a reflex, they will

be able to grasp the object, but not be able to actively let it go.

• Active grasping starts to develop from about 4 months of age and will start from the pinkie side of the hand

inwards – the thumb and index finger will only be able to actively join in last.

4-6 months:

• Babies will start to consciously grasp objects by bending their wrist, using all their fingers to push objects into

their palm, and close all their fingers around the object – this is called raking.

• Babies are able to squeeze objects in the hand but not move or turn them (in-hand manipulation).

6-8 months:

• Babies will start transferring objects between their hands in their midline

• Isolated finger movements start to develop

• Active release is still difficult and not coordinated

• Finger feeding starts

• As babies come into a crawling position the palmar arches start to develop

8-12 months:

• Finger feeds with ease

• Actively releases objects with good coordination

• Thumb and index finger become involved in grasp patterns and precision grasps start to develop

• In-hand manipulation starts to develop

1-2 years:

Palmar supinate pencil grasp develops

In this grasp, a child will hold a pencil with their entire hand, much like making a fist. The pencil will be in the palm of the

hand, with the thumb at the top and the pinkie finger at the bottom. Pretend that you are holding a mug – this is what this

grasp looks like. Because children are only now learning how to include their thumb and index finger, these fingers do not

yet have the strength and endurance to hold the pencil in any other way. This grasp focuses on the stability of the pencil

much more than control.

2-3 years:

Radial/Digital pronate grasp

As the muscles in their fingers become stronger and their dexterity increases, children will start using their thumb in a

more isolated way. They will still use their arm for most of the movement, but their thumb and index finger will start

moving away from their other fingers in a way to continue strengthening them. In this grasp, the arm is turned inward



(elbow facing upwards), with the middle, ring, and pinkie finger curled around the pencil. The index finger will be straight

and rest at the over the length of the pencil, with the thumb supporting at the opposite side. Think about how you hold a

bread knife for cutting.

3 ½ - 5 years:

Static tripod pencil grasp

From the age of around 3 ½ years, children will gain more control of their pencil. They will start providing both stability

and mobility to the pencil with the hand, instead of needing the whole arm to do this. This grasp forms the beginning of an

appropriate grasp as it starts the opening of the webspace between the thumb and index finger. With this grasp, the

thumb is on one side of the pencil and the rest of the fingers are on the other side. All the fingers are straight and not bent.

Think of how your hand will be if you pretend it is a puppet, now place a pencil in and close the hand around it without

bending your fingers.

5 years:

Dynamic tripod grasp

Finally, around the age of 5, a child will start using the pencil grasps we know and need for writing and drawing with

success. For this grasp, the thumb and index finger will do most of the mobility work – which is moving and controlling the

pencil. The other fingers will be bent and will stabilise and support the pencil while the thumb and index fingers move it.

There will be a big open space between the thumb and index finger in which the pencil can rest and move. In our next

slides, we will take a look at what makes a grasp appropriate or not, what the various forms of correct and incorrect grasps

are, and why these grasps are important.

Correct vs incorrect pencil grasp When we have to decide if a grasp is correct or incorrect, there are a few factors to consider and requirements that will

determine whether a grasp is correct or not. In a mature pencil grasp, there needs to be a balance between stability and

mobility. Stability refers to how stable the pencil is in the grasp – not too loose that it falls out of the hand or is difficult to

control, and not too restricted that it cannot be moved easily for writing. Mobility refers to how the pencil is handled for

writing. As adults you will see that you can make all the letters of the alphabet with minimal movement on your part – your

index finger and thumb are doing almost all of the work while your wrist and other fingers keep your pencil in a stable

position.

For a mature pencil grasp to be correct or functional, the following is needed:

• The thumb and index finger must be actively involved in mobilising the pencil (moving it)

• The other fingers must provide stability to the pencil

• There must be a big open web space in which the pencil can rest. A webspace refers to the "web" that is

present if you move your thumb away from your index finger. This webspace will allow for both stability and

mobility of the pencil. It will provide stability as a place where the pencil can rest or be stabilised from the

back while writing, as well as a place in which the back of the pencil can move unrestricted as a result of the

movement created in the front by the thumb and index finger.

• The wrist must be extended (pointing away from the body) and rest on the page to provide stability.



If we consider these factors, there are three functional pencil grasps that we can use:

1. Dynamic tripod grasps – which is the classic grasp we have already discussed

2. Dynamic quadrupod grasp – which looks similar to the dynamic tripod grasp, but instead of having the middle

finger underneath the pencil giving support, it is also placed on the pencil. The ring finger then takes the place of

the middle finger by giving support underneath the pencil.

3. The adapted tripod grasp. This grasp might look strange, but if we take into consideration the requirements of a

functional grasp, it meets all of them! And if you don't believe me, try it out yourself!

Now let’s use those same principles and discuss incorrect grasps.

First of all, it is important to identify whether a grasp is inefficient or whether it is immature.

Immature grasps are when children get "stuck" on one of the typical grasps that occur along development. If this happens,

the child may not have gained enough fine motor strength and endurance of the hand muscles for the grasps to continue

its development. As they grew older, this grasp became a habit, and a combination of fine motor development through

play and the practice of the appropriate grasp is needed. Remember that it is much more important to increase strength

and endurance with fine motor play than it is to practise the correct grasp. Children get stuck on a grasp for a reason and it

much better to identify and address the cause than to try and handle the symptoms.

Inefficient grasps are when children hold their pencils in a way that is not functional and is restricting their continuous

development. Here are some of the most common inefficient grasps:

The thumb wrap grasp

This is one of the most common inefficient grasps. One of the first problems that this grasp creates is that the thumb

(which is our most mobile finger) cannot give mobility to the pencil as it is rather used to give extra stability to all the

fingers and the pencil. The wrist and arm are therefore in control of mobilising the pencil. This might make it very difficult

for children to control their pencils for smaller writing. There is no webspace for the pencil to move in and additional to

this, this grasp blocks out most of the visual field of the page and prevents children from seeing what they are writing. With

this grasp, there is too much stability and not enough mobility (control and precision)

The thumb tuck grasp

This grasp is a variation of the thumb wrap grasps, where the thumb is tucked in underneath the fingers. This grasp creates

similar challenges as the thumb wrap grasp.

The interdigital brace grasp

This grasp is not common but can have a severely negative effect on the ability to write. In this grasp, the index and middle

fingers are wrapped around the pencil, while the back of the pencil rests in the webspace between the thumb and index

finger and the bottom of the pencil is positioned at the very back between the ring and middle finger. The thumb is closed

at the top and all the fingers are bent inwards (flexed). This position gives almost no opportunity for mobility and relies on

the use of big muscles to control the grasp. It closes off the visual field and often results in children pressing very hard and

working very slow.



The supinate grasp

This position is becoming more prevalent over time as a result of how children become accustomed to holding a game

controller. This position supports the arm in a "supinated position" (turn your arms and hands as if you are asking for

soup) and does not require finger isolation as most of the fingers are used to hold and stabilise the controller. When

children move on to hold a pencil, they struggle to turn their arm over (palm facing down) and isolate their fingers for

stability and mobility. Because the wrist is not resting on the paper, they struggle to have adequate control over the pencil

and will tire easily, as well as write very lightly.

The index grasp

With this grasp, a child turns his arm and hand so that all of their fingers except the thumb can line up on one side of the

pencil, while the thumb gives counterpressure from the other side. Because the thumb and other fingers are so high up the

pencil, they cannot help to move and control the pencil. The movement, therefore, comes from the wrist and because the

grasps are so unstable, children will tend to press very lightly.

Why the correct grasp is important Right now, there are probably many of you who are telling me that you have one of these grasps and that you are

completely fine. And that is true!

The grasps we have just discussed are the ideal grasps, giving optimal stability and mobility, and reducing the amount of

effort that is needed to produce good quality writing with good writing speed.

If children present with inefficient grasps between the ages of 5 and 7, I will often try my best to help them move towards a

more functional grasp, as this grasp is not yet a fixed motor pattern.

If they are past the age of 7 and have an inefficient grasp but are delivering good quality work with age-appropriate writing

speed, then I will often leave the grasp as the child is using it functionally.

If they are past the age of 7, have an inefficient grasp, and are struggling with quality, precision, and task completion then I

will strongly consider trying to change the grasp to one that is more functional.

Fine motor stimulation

Promoting fine motor development To get to that functional pencil grasp and set your child up for success, it is important to make sure that they take part in

enough gross and fine motor play.

Gross motor development will form the foundation for fine motor development and will always be used to support the

limbs while they are busy working. Good gross motor development will allow for a child to sit with a good posture, not tire

too quickly, and give a strong base of support for fine motor tasks.

Fine motor play will help a child learn and master skills like bilateral integration, motor coordination, eye-hand

coordination, midline crossing, in-hand manipulation, dexterity, and ultimately take them through the various grasps



along their development. By the time they start drawing and writing they will have the necessary strength, endurance, and

skills to hold a pencil in the most functional way – making success at school that much easier.

Here are some pointers for promoting fine motor development:

• Limit screen time or too much inactivity

• Support gross motor play and development as we discussed in the previous lesson

• Include fine motor components in gross motor play by adding smaller components or utensils. An example of

this is by adding bubbles to blow if they are playing outside. Think about how you can add a fine motor

component to your child’s favourite gross motor activity

• Allow for plenty of fine motor play

• Avoid game controllers until children are 5 years old

• Use fine motor play instead of giving them pencils at too young an age

Fine motor activity ideas Playdough!

• 1 cup of flour

• 2tsp cream of tartar

• ½ cup of salt

• 1tbsp cooking oil

• 1 cup of water

• Food colouring

Method:

Mix food colouring with your water first. Then add the vegetable oil and water with food colouring to a large pot. Add the

dry ingredients to your pot and mix well. Cook over low to medium heat until the dough starts to form and becomes dry.

Once it starts to form a ball, take off the heat. Once cool, knead for 5 minutes.

Here are some of my favourite ways to play with playdough and why:

• Rolling out with a rolling pin or hands – stimulates bilateral integration, strengthens arms, wrists, and hands.

• Pressing out shapes – practising motor control and coordination, increases hand strength, and promotes

finger isolation

• Hide toys inside the playdough to find – stimulates finger isolation and improves strength and endurance

through the resistance work of searching through the playdough.

• Making balls with playdough – stimulates bilateral integration, motor coordination, and manipulation

• Make a long snake with the playdough and pinch the tops with your thumb and index finger to make scales at

the top – improves finger isolation, eye-hand coordination, strengthens thumb and index finger, teaches how

to work from left to right.

• Use a plastic knife and cut the “snake” into pieces – practising grasps, strength, endurance, eye-hand

coordination, and in-hand manipulation



Conclusion Your very first step was quite a surprise – you’re changing right before our eyes!

First, you rolled, then you crawled, now you’re standing straight and tall.

With hands outstretched, your little feet will walk into the arms you’ll meet.

You must have felt some trepidation but on your face was jubilation!

Step by step, day by day, you’re growing up in every way.

- Kimberly Rinehart

References

• Faure, M. and Richardson, A., n.d. Baby Sense.

• O'Brien, J. and Kuhaneck, H., n.d. Case-Smith's Occupational Therapy For Children And Adolescents.

• Murkoff, H. and Mazel, S., 2018. What To Expect The 1St Year [Rev Edition]. New York: Simon & Schuster,

Limited.

• Pathways.org. n.d. [online] Available at: <https://pathways.org/wp-

content/uploads/2020/03/AssureBrochure_English_LEGAL_2020.pdf>

• Thayer, A., n.d. Gross Motor Skills And Why They Are Important. [online] Teaching Mama. Available at:

<https://teachingmama.org/gross-motor-skills-why-they-are-

important/#:~:text=Working%20on%20gross%20motor%20skills,playing%20soccer%20with%2>

• Healthofchildren.com. n.d. Gross Motor Skills - Symptoms, Average, Definition, Description, Common

Problems. [online] Available at: <http://www.healthofchildren.com/G-H/Gross-Motor-Skills.html>

Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Development Fine ...

Documents

Transcript of Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Development Fine ...