As you watch your toddler grow, you’ll marvel at the developing skills they show every day. One of these essential skills is their fine motor skills, the foundation for tasks as simple as feeding themselves and as complex as writing their first letters. You can help them improve their fine motor skills through everyday tasks, making […]
Developing fine motor skills through everyday tasks Read More »
When I started teaching, one of the first things I noticed was that preschoolers were slackers. While the older children were busy in their classrooms, the youngest pupils – my pupils – were taking it easy, playing outside in the sand and mud. That’ll never do, I thought. I’ll soon whip them into shape. There
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Take some pasta. Anything with a hole in it will do. Now get some twine. And slip the pasta pieces onto it one by one. That’s it. You have successfully completed one of the trickiest, most beneficial preschooler activities of all time. Threading activities are simple but their impact can be profound. What is threading?
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The development of fine motor skills becomes increasingly important as your child begins their journey into the world of print. These skills involve coordinating small muscle movements, usually synchronising the hands and fingers with the eyes. They are essential for everyday tasks such as buttoning clothes, tying shoelaces, and writing. In handwriting, fine motor skills
Fine motor skills for handwriting Read More »
Does your child ever help to hang up the washing? If you’ve got an outdoor line you will have discovered what a challenge of co-ordination and fine motor skills it is to use a clothes peg. But like the scissor skills we talked about in the second email of this series, squeezing a peg to
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It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but Week 27 | Scissor Skills is one of my favourite Get Set Five modules. It’s a bit nerdy, and probably goes into more detail than is strictly necessary, but it also gets to the heart of something important: Why do preschool teachers offer so many opportunities for cutting
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As a child, did you love colouring in? It felt a bit like cheating, didn’t? Filling in someone else’s drawing. But it was satisfying – even therapeutic. But it’s not really drawing, is it? Does it have any value? Some early years teachers frown on colouring in because it’s not creative and has a pre-determined
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Press your finger into playdough and make a hole. Turn a key. Hold a pencil. Cut a circle out of paper with some scissors. These are fine motor movements, movements of the hands and fingers. These skills are essential for everyday tasks, like doing up buttons and zips, and also help children get ready for
Fine motor activities Read More »