We all know how important play is in a child’s life. It is where kids learn a lot of things, such as socializing with their peers and other life skills and values. Meanwhile, a lot of toys help develop fine motor skills in children. Parents should encourage physical play to their children to make use of their motor skills.
There are two types of motor skills: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. The former involves your entire body to do specific tasks, such as playing sports or fixing things. Meanwhile, the latter involves explicitly using your hands to do chores. These include opening doors, writing, or cooking.
The development of motor skills should also involve the use of other basic senses. Experts do not encourage intellectual tasks only on children, such as memorizing the alphabet and learning to count. Instead, intellectual learning should also come with motor skills for more effective learning.
How to encourage motor development on children
Children are taught to do simple tasks to help develop their fine motor skills. They include holding a pencil, touching buttons, building blocks, buttoning and unbuttoning a shirt, and zipping and unzipping a bag.
Learning fine motor skills is essential because it serves as a connection between actions and thoughts. As the child grows, fine motor skills are also developed, depending on the child’s age. For example, newborns mostly have involuntary hand movements, also known as a palmar reflex.
As babies reach months and years, they eventually learn how to hold things with their hands, bang toys, and even make a mess. All of these are part of a child’s learning that can be valuable as they grow into adulthood. Besides those, there are other ways to help your little kids develop their fine motor skills:
Let your child make a mess.
As mentioned, it is part of learning, especially among children. Patience is the key – you also most likely did that when you were younger. Instead of being angry for the mess, you can join your kid and the fun.
Be resourceful.
Toys are part of children’s lives. Nowadays, they have become more sophisticated and eye-catching for kids. However, there is no need to buy expensive toys for your child. Have you noticed that many infants prefer holding other items, such as cups and even the remote control as their toys? Let them explore things on their own – under adult supervision, of course.
Let them scribble.
Don’t let them scribble on your walls. Instead, you can give them a sketch pad or pieces of blank paper where your child can use different color crayons. It is during their infancy and toddlerhood when they start to learn to hold and do things correctly. Again, patience is the key, and let them figure out things on their own.
These are some things you can do to help encourage your child to enhance his motor skills. It can take some time, frustratingly long even. But it’s all part of learning, and everything will be worth it.