Muscular force, or the amount of force applied through the muscles in small motor use, also referring to proprioceptive input through the hands and fingers.Grasp and release (we’ll break these two areas down even further).This is broken down into areas of dexterity that all work together: The precision of grasp and release is essential for very small motor movements in activities like picking up beads and releasing items like blocks with precision. Today, I’m sharing ways to work on the controlled use of these fine motor patterns in controlled dexterity tasks. I talked a little about strengthening these types of grasp patterns. Precision occurs with development of grasp when child to use the pads of the index finger, middle finger, and thumb to manipulate objects with opposition. (That is my funny-OT attempt at a fine motor skills joke!) But really, fine motor skills are a staple of a child’s development and are essential to function. Kids and fine motor skills go hand-in-hand. The following resources will be a great way to break these areas of development down: Breaking it down further, arch development and strengthening of the intrinsic muscles in the hands are both areas that are essential for precision in the fingertips. “ Proximal stability allows for distal mobility.”īefore a child can manipulate and move an object with dexterity and refined motor skills, there needs to be a base of support in stability in the core and upper extremity, mobility and coordination in the proximal joints (shoulder before elbow…elbow before wrist…and wrist before hand). Related to that is the key input of body awareness and the impact of heavy work on more distal motor coordination skills. Gross motor coordination is a great place to start if precision skills seem to be “off” or delayed. If any of these areas are not fully developed in stability or control, then the child will show compensatory strategies as they try to use their hands in handwriting or cutting with scissors. And by that, I mean that in order for a child to use their hands super fine motor tasks, they first must demonstrate strength and control of their core, shoulder, and arm. Let’s cover each of those areas in greater detail below.īut first, it’s important to note that a child’s ultra fine motor dexterity is dependent on bigger things. After grasping the object without overshooting or missing the item, it is necessary to position or rotate the object within the hand Together, these precision skills enable us to pick up an object with the right amount of pressure and motor dexterity so you can grasp the object accurately taking eye-hand coordination skills into consideration. This post is part of my 31 Days of Occupational Therapy series where you can find 30 more ideas like this one with easy treatment materials.įine Motor Precision refers to the ultra-fine motor skills in the hand, broken down into areas: grasp and release, fine motor rotation, in-hand manipulation, and proprioception. Let’s break this down… Fine Motor Precision Activitiesīefore we get to the fun stuff…the actual fine motor activities that support graded grasp and release, manipulation of objects within the hand, and various amounts of pressure and precision needed to perform functional tasks, let’s cover exactly what precision skills look like, what the term means, and why this area of development is so important.Īt the bottom of this post, you’ll find specific strategies to support precision development so that kids can complete these tasks and not fumble with objects in the hands.Ī good place to start is with our resource listing games with paper clips as a tool to support precision and refined dexterity. These are just a few examples of how grasp and release activities support fine motor skill development. Here, we are addressing what fine motor precision means and specific activities to do with kids to help with grasp manipulation, dexterity, and graded movements like managing a zipper, buttons, and adjusting a pencil within the fingers to write and erase. Helping kids develop and strengthen fine motor skills is essential for functional tasks, and this resource on fine motor precision activities supports that development.
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