Helping Your Child Develop their Fine Motor Skills

Helping Your Child Develop their Fine Motor Skills

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Disclosure - This is a collaborative post - 

Many, if not all, of our day-to-day activities revolve around fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are the skills needed to use the small muscles found in our arms, hands and feet that can only be developed through practice and lots of play. Activities aim to strengthen these muscles and improve coordination to allow children to develop their own independence.

We have teamed up with a pre prep school in Hampshire to share more on helping your child develop their fine motor skills.

Weaving Wool

All this activity involves is a cardboard cut-out and a reel of wool. You will need to tape the end of the wool to the piece of cardboard and get your child to wrap it tightly around the cut-out until it is fully woven and covered. This exercise offers a great way to get your child to exercise their creativity while getting them to practice their holding and gripping skills. For ease, you might want to choose a shape with a hole to make the process of feeding the wool through easier. This could be a circular or heart-shaped hoop.

Create a Post Box

Another option for getting your child to practice holding and gripping is a post box. This is a box with cut-outs for your child to post items through. These items can be bottle tops, balls or beads. You can just as easily turn this into a lesson on shapes by adjusting the shape of the cut-outs and finding objects to fit.

Play Dough 

Some may be fearful of play dough and the potential consequences for their carpet, but it can greatly help children in their development. All the squishing and squashing that’s needed to mould play dough can help your child to develop the essential skills needed to press and pinch. As an activity, you could create playdough versions of each other. This can make for lots of fun and stretch your child’s creativity.

Musical Instruments

One less frightening option that won’t create a whole lot of mess is musical play. Instruments such as the guitar and keyboard require a lot of finger work which will help your child to exercise the muscles in their arms too. This could also be a way of getting your child into the arts by igniting a love for music at a young age.

These are just four ways to help your child develop their fine motor skills. There are so many more and you can make it as fun as you like. The messier the better!

Michelle

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5 Important Life Skills to Explore With Your Child from A Young Age

5 Important Life Skills to Explore With Your Child from A Young Age

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Disclosure - This is a collaborative post - 

Children grow up so quickly and giving them a toolkit of essential life skills can serve them well for when you're not there. We have paired up with a prep school in Buckinghamshire to share 5 important skills to explore with your child from a young age.

Cooking

While you might not be looking forward to the mess in the kitchen, teaching your child how to cook can serve them well when you’re ill or when they go off to university. You don’t need to get all the pots and pans out for this one and can just teach them how to make a sandwich or make their own toast.

First Aid

Children can be very clumsy. Getting cuts and bruises all the time. Showing your child what to do in the event that they injure themselves can teach them how to protect themselves and help others. For this, you can show them where to find the first aid kit and how to use all of its equipment.

Mindfulness

Knowing how to deal with your emotions is a powerful skill to have and can allow your child to live a healthier and more fulfilled life. As your child grows up, they will face different challenges and knowing how to deal with anxiety can help them to increase their focus and see a clear path ahead. This can help them in their education, work-life and personal life by allowing them to identify how they’re feeling and use calming techniques. There are many mindfulness techniques out there that can help them to be brought back to the present.

Organisation

This is an important skill that can help when working through tasks in the workplace or when completing schoolwork. Without having the knowledge and skill to organise, it can be hard to create a plan to move forwards and tackle a problem. Teach your child good organisation, get them to do chores from an early age whether it be making their bed or folding the laundry.

Problem-Solving

It would be unusual for your child not to find themselves in a predicament. Life is full of so many challenges and knowing how to tackle them is a valuable skill. It starts with identifying a problem, brainstorming to think of solutions and brainstorming again to identify their strengths and weaknesses. It’s a process that involves looking at problems from all angles and is something that you can practice with your child by regularly asking questions.

Michelle

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Parenting | The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities

Parenting | The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities

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It is World Book Day today and although little J's school isn't offering the chance for him to dress up, we have been making The Very Hungry Caterpillar activities for him to enjoy at home.

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