Remember
your pride when your baby learned to grasp his soother/pacifier for the first
time or when she successfully fed herself cheerios? These are examples of fine motor skills; the infants were
using their small muscles to manipulate their hands, fingers, thumbs and wrists
in order to pinch, grasp and rotate. In partnership with eye hand coordination
these skills continue to develop with children learning to button clothing,
pull up zippers, use cutlery or chopsticks and eventually print, write and use
computer keyboards
Fine
motor skills for toddlers need to be practised and refined for continued
improvement. This can be encouraged through activities of daily living such as
using a spoon, cutting with children’s scissors or having the toddler start to
dress himself. There is also a greatselection of toys which encourages fine motor skills for toddlers. The best
ones are versatile - theyincorporate play with the opportunity to learn
multiple other skills. The toys should be attractive to the toddlers,
appropriately sized, strong and washable. Ideally they should also grow with
the child’s developmental stages. Skoolzy.com provides a wonderful variety of
such toys.
The Jumbo Nuts and Bolts sets by Skoolzy.com are ideal fine motor toys for toddlers. The child must use both hands to grasp a nut and bolt, and use eye hand coordination tomatch the two together, thread and twist. Beyond using fine motor the toddler is learning color recognition and geometric shapes. Early math skills such as sorting, matching, pairing and counting are enhanced.
Construction toys are great fine motor toys for toddlers. And they provide opportunities to learn so much more. The Skoolzy.com 30 Piece Joint Construction Set consists of toddler-sized plastic tubes, wheels and cross pieces to challenge children in using their fine motor skills and dexterity to create and innovate. This toy requires focus, attention and problem solving skills.
Another
Skooly.com fine motor toy for toddlers
is the 408 Piece Straws and Wheel Connector set. This toy is slightly more
challenging and grows with the child right up to school age. Using colorful
straws and a variety of connector pieces the toddler will use pinching and
grasping movements to build their imaginative creation. Multiple lessons are
encouraged including early math and engineering skills. This toy requires focus
and attention to details. It is also a great toy to promote group
play and cooperation.
Stringing
large wooden beads is a more traditional fine
motor toy for toddlers, as are peg boards. Skoolzy.com has a large
selection of these toys. While practising fine motor skills toddlers are also exploring
basic math skills. They are making patterns, matching and sorting colors and putting
items into sequence. They may be counting, estimating and doing simple addition
or subtraction.
Any
toy that encourages the toddler to use his or her fingers and hands will
support fine motor skills. However the best fine motor toys for toddlers will also provide an array of other
learning opportunities.
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