Everyday Play

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Caroline and Elizabeth—I love you!

Thank you to the Early Learning Program of East Tennessee State University’s Child Study Center for your willingness to allow me to spend time in your classrooms and take photographs.

Gryphon House books are available for special premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising use. Special editions or book excerpts also can be created to specification. For details, contact the Director of Marketing at Gryphon House.

 

Gryphon House, Inc. and the author cannot be held responsible for damage, mishap, or injury incurred during the use of or because of activities in this book. Appropriate and reasonable caution and adult supervision of children involved in activities and corresponding to the age and capability of each child involved is recommended at all times. Do not leave children unattended at any time. Observe safety and caution at all times.

Your child is naturally curious. One of the ways he learns about the world is by exploring objects and materials with his hands. These hand skills are called fine motor skills. During the early years, your child learns to use his hands for important skills, such as feeding and dressing himself, as well as for play, work, and self-care skills he will need for the rest of his life. As a responsive parent, you help establish your child’s sense of trust and security; a child who feels nurtured and supported is more likely to try new things. This book will help you understand and observe how children develop fine motor skills, and how you can join in your child’s everyday play to help him grow in new directions.

 

 

Your child uses her fine motor skills when she is at home, at school, and in the community. At home, she may use her hands to eat dry cereal, feed herself with a spoon or fork, drink from a cup, zip up her coat, snap her pants, or unbutton her shirt. At preschool, your child may use her hands to clap along with music, do fingerplays, put on dress-up clothes, wash a doll, build with blocks, draw, cut with scissors, or put together puzzles. Your child may use her fine motor skills in a variety of ways when she is out and about in her environment. She may use her hands to push the button on an elevator, open plastic bags of snacks, turn on a faucet, and wash her hands.

 

 

You can build those skills every day by playing the games and doing the activities in this book. Now is the time for playful learning.

By the time your child is six years old, she should be able to perform the following basic fine motor actions:

Give your child a wide variety of materials to explore in new and different ways. Paper, pens, markers, crayons, glue, clay, and small blocks spark your child’s imagination and invite her to create things that are interesting to her. She will enjoy this open-ended exploration and, at the same time, it will help her develop her fine motor skills.

 

 

When you and your child do the fine motor activities in this book, remember that the product of the activity is not as important as the process. Giving your four-year-old child a blank piece of paper, a choice of several different paintbrushes, and a set of watercolor paints will provide more interesting ways for him to practice his fine motor skills than offering him a coloring book and crayons.

 

 

When your child is learning to use a new tool such as an eyedropper or a hole punch, show her the proper and safest method to use these tools.

Keep your instructions simple and brief. Clearly demonstrate the basic ways to use the tool or material, and then give her time to explore how she can use the tool.

 

Before you begin an activity, talk to your child about safety precautions. Generally, one or two “safety tips” are all that your child will be able to remember. Simply explain how your child can use the tool or material safely. Here are some examples:

Several factors may influence your child’s fine motor development, including muscle tone, body build, temperament, and even gender. Frequently, girls are more competent than boys of the same age at performing fine motor activities, such as drawing, handwriting, and cutting with scissors. Every child will develop fine motor skills at her own pace.

Here is a list of the foundations necessary for fine motor skills:
Developmental Readiness
: Building, stacking, and putting things together fascinate young children. Preschoolers begin to understand shapes and sizes and begin to differentiate between the “part” and the “whole.” Activities that give your child the opportunity to build and construct using blocks and other similar objects will help him become developmentally ready to participate in activities such as drawing, cutting, and stringing beads.

Good Posture/Balance
: Fine motor activities are easier to complete when a child sits with her feet firmly on the floor and with her back straight.

Your child should be able to use her arms to manipulate objects rather than using them to hold herself steady at the table.

Shoulder Strength
:Your child’s shoulder strength provides a stable base of support for his hand function. Young children who do not regularly participate in large motor activities such as climbing, crawling, pushing, and pulling may not develop good upper-body strength.

Grasp
: Your child should be able to hold a writing tool (for example, a crayon, marker, or pencil) before you begin helping her learn pre-writing skills. The grasp ought to be strong enough that your child can hold the writing tool, but flexible enough to allow her to move the tool across a paper surface. Most three-year-olds hold a crayon with all of their fingers, and the majority of five-year-olds use their thumb, index, and middle fingers to hold the crayon. By the time your child reaches first grade she should have a mature grasp.