Table of Contents

Your child’s development won’t always be exactly in line with what it says in child-development books. Some children travel along the predicted lines at perfect speed whilst others develop in a more ‘spiky’ fashion – excelling in one area and lagging in another perhaps. If your child’s fine motor skills aren’t quite where they should be, it can be worrying – especially as they get further into their education.

Here are some guidelines so you can work out if your child is where they’re expected to be when it comes to fine motor skills.

By 3-4 years of age your child should be able to:

Build a tower of up to 9 blocks

Copy a circle
Manipulate clay into basic shapes such as snakes or balls
Use their non-dominant hand to help manage tasks
Manipulate scissors to make basic snips in paper

By 4-5 years of age your child should be able to:

Use scissors to cut along a line without stopping

Copy a cross with a pencil
Copy a square with a pencil
Write their own name
Write down numbers between 1 and 5
Copy letters recognisably
Undress and dress without assistance

Of course, not all children are going to be able to everything right on cue – the important thing to remember is that you should provide your child with plenty of opportunity to practice. Here are some good, fun activities to help your child develop their fine motor skills.

Clay play – kneading, squashing, rolling and pinching are all excellent practice
Tweezers – you can use blunt plastic tweezers to help your child develop their pincer grip. Have them pick up a variety of objects and transfer them to another container
Blowing bubbles – sounds simple but simply holding the wand is great for small finger development
Playing on a keyboard – a musical piano, just a cheap battery one is wonderful for children’s dexterity
Hair styling – both boys and girls love to put clips and hair ties in their parents’ hair

Try various things to see what your child enjoys most and make sure they keep at it – this nursery in North London provides a wide range of fun activities to help children develop more skills.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.