Everyday Play (2 page)

Forearm and Wrist Control
: Your child should be able to swivel his forearm so that his palm is up and then down. Your child’s ability to hold his wrist firm while moving his fingers is particularly important for activities such as cutting and lacing or stringing. These skills will improve dramatically between ages three and five.

Bilateral Hand Use
: Using two hands together to complete an activity is essential for success in fine motor activities. By age three, your child should learn to stabilize an object with one hand and move her other hand. For example, she should be able to hold down a piece of paper with one hand and draw on that paper with her other hand. By age five, your child should begin developing
reciprocal hand use.
This means she can cut with one hand and turn the paper with the other hand to create large, simple shapes.

Eye-Hand Coordination
:Your child needs to develop strong interaction between his visual and hand skills. He needs to be able to use his vision to coordinate the movement of his shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers as he learns to use a new tool or participates in a new fine motor activity.

In addition to the foundations of good fine motor skills, your child must be able to scribble independently on paper before beginning pre-writing activities. Most young children follow this progression:

Note
: “Copy” here means that the child can look at a picture or drawing of a particular form, and without a demonstration of how to make the line or shape, be able to create an imitation of the drawing.

 

 

In general, this progression begins sometime around age two. Most children will be able to copy a triangle and a diamond by the time they are four-and-a-half years old. Once your child can copy all forms and shapes, she should be ready to begin writing letters.

Your child should spend more time playing with manipulatives than practicing writing skills. Avoid the temptation to begin formal handwriting, such as making specific letters, before your child is developmentally ready. If you push your child to write before his hands are physically ready, he may become less interested in writing. In addition, practicing these higher-level fine motor skills before your child is ready puts him at risk for developing poor pencil grasp, illegible handwriting, and slow handwriting (see page 121).

Your child will learn pre-writing skills best by playing and by taking part in daily life activities. The developmental steps that children typically follow in learning to write are below.

Modeling/Imitating
: You show your child how to draw a line or shape, and your child imitates it.

Tracing:
Your child traces over a line or shape. Some children are able to skip the tracing step, as they will be able to copy a shape after modeling/imitating.

Copying
: The child looks at the completed line or shape and copies it.

Creating
:The child creates her own lines and shapes.

 

 

The time that each child spends in each developmental step varies. Each time your child attempts a new form or shape, he will most likely need to go through these same steps. Expose your child to a wide variety of print (for example books, magazines, and cards), art, environmental designs (for example traffic signs or labels), and markers, crayons or pencils during play so that he will have many opportunities to imitate and model pre-writing.

 

 

By age four, many children will spend more time creating shapes and drawings of their own and less time imitating and tracing. During this stage, engaging in open-ended activities that use blank paper and various writing tools will allow your child to practice her new pre-writing skills. Labeling a child’s drawing or writing her story on paper is a great way to demonstrate letter formation.

 

 

Some children are ready to begin writing at age five. Most children will start by writing their first names. Some children will be interested in writing letters that are not in their names and may begin to participate in inventive spelling. The best way to promote your child’s handwriting skills is to provide a
literacy-rich environment that includes a variety of opportunities for him to observe, attempt, and master pre-writing activities first and then follow with letter-writing activities.

Your child will follow these general developmental stages of learning to use scissors:

Note
: A child begins by cutting large simple shapes and progresses to cutting smaller shapes.

 

 

This sequence typically begins when children are about two-and-a-half years old. Many young children first attempt to hold scissors with their thumbs down or using two hands.

 

 

By age three, your child may be able to hold a sheet of paper in one hand and manipulate the scissors in her other hand to snip the paper. By age five-and-a-half, she may be able to cut out simple shapes and use scissors to cut non-paper materials for creative activities.

 

These descriptions of how children develop their writing and scissor skills are guidelines. Each child will have his own interest and skill level. As a result, children will progress through the sequences differently as they develop these fine motor skills.

You may want to designate a small area in your home where your child can explore fine motor play. Your fine motor learning space may be a small area or corner of a room. This space will work best in a spot where the floors are easy to clean. If your entire floor is carpeted, you may want to cover the floor with a shower curtain or sheet to protect surfaces.

 

 

Once you’ve decided where to set up the space, begin collecting objects and materials that will stimulate your child’s fine motor development. See the list of developmentally appropriate materials and tools for your child to use (on pages 18-20) for suggestions. Stock the area with the right materials and welcome your child into her new space.

 

 

Now it’s time to play! Simply find the chapter that matches your child’s developmental level and choose the activities you think he will enjoy. Have fun, be a good observer, and enjoy this amazing time of growth and development with your child.

Give your child the right tools and materials that provide the “just right challenge.” A tool that is too difficult for your child to manipulate may discourage him and he may give up. An activity that is too simple for your child may cause your child to quickly lose interest in the task.

 

 

Preschoolers work best with tools that fit easily into their small hands. Select tools that will make it easy for a child to be successful so that the she can see her hard work pay off. For example, plastic scissors may appear to be a safe and appropriate option for some children, but plastic scissors are difficult to use when cutting thin paper. Using plastic scissors may frustrate your child. Being a careful observer as you watch your child play will help you gauge her interest level and skill and modify the activity so she can be successful.

Writing and Drawing Utensils:
Your child’s grasp of a writing utensil is important because it has an impact on your child’s handwriting skill. By the end of kindergarten, most children will have established a particular method for grasping their writing tools. These grasps are habit-based and are very difficult to change once a child practices it long enough. Using the appropriate size and type of writing utensil will help your child develop and practice an efficient pencil grasp that will carry over into elementary school.

For three-year-olds or inexperienced preschoolers, provide large writing tools, such as thick chalk, pencils, crayons, and paintbrushes; bulb paintbrushes; and easy-grip (round-top) crayons. These “thick” utensils are easier for children to grasp in their small hands. Large markers are especially effective for beginning writers because large markers move smoothly across the paper and are easy to hold.

 

 

Some four-year-olds and most five-year-olds have developed enough foundational skills for writing that they are ready to use standard-sized writing utensils. Adult-sized pencils, golf pencils, thin markers, and small paintbrushes will encourage a more effective grasp. This means children will start to hold the writing tool with fewer fingers, as well as start to separate their thumb and index finger while writing. Do not throw away short pencils and broken crayons; use them to help a more mature preschooler use his thumb, index, and middle finger to grasp a pencil.

 

 

Scissors:
Small, round-tipped scissors are typically the best choice for preschoolers. Select scissors that have small holes for a young child’s fingers and that are not longer than 5”. School-style scissors, which both right- or left-handed children can use, work well. Make sure that the scissors are sharp enough to cut paper easily and open and close smoothly.

 

 

Cutting Materials:
For beginning or less-skilled cutters, use heavyweight paper, such as index cards, magazine inserts or junk-mail cards, construction paper, or paper bags. Heavier paper is less floppy, more stable, and will allow the child more control for cutting.

Playdough is another heavy material that works well for snipping with scissors. Preschoolers with a moderate skill level can cut regular-weight paper. More advanced preschoolers may cut light-weight materials, such as foil, wax paper, and tissue paper. Non-paper items, such as yarn and fabric, are the most challenging to cut—save these until your child is skilled at cutting regular paper.

 

 

Glue:
Large glue sticks may be easier for young preschoolers to hold in their hands. More experienced preschoolers can use smaller glue sticks that can apply glue to the surface more accurately. Dipping craft sticks or cotton swabs into a small container of glue (for example, a small paper cup) may be useful for some activities. Once your preschooler develops enough hand strength to squeeze with control, she can begin to squeeze school glue bottles in fine motor activities, which is a great way for her to build hand strength.

 

 

Stringing/Lacing:
Stringing and lacing activities require good eye-hand coordination. Typically, young children learn to string objects first. Once they are confident in their stringing abilities, children are often more willing to attempt lacing activities, such as lacing cards or boards. When selecting materials for stringing or lacing, consider the size of the holes in the object and the length of the hard tip of the string or lace. For young preschoolers, it helps to start stringing objects that have large holes and that the children can hold easily. String that is stiff and has a long, hard tip will be easier for small hands to manipulate. Rope with duct tape stabilizing the end, thick shoelaces, or long straws also work well. As your child develops more skill, he can begin stringing very small objects, such as small jewelry beads, onto plastic string or thread.

 

 

Table and Chair:
A sturdy table and a chair that is the appropriate height are important. A chair should allow the young child’s knees to bend at a 90° angle. When your child is sitting in the chair, she should be able to place her feet firmly on the ground. The table should be a height that allows the child’s elbows to bend and rest lightly on the tabletop. Placing a telephone book or box under your child’s feet is a simple way to provide your child with the necessary balancing support. Standing at a table is another good way for your child to develop her sense of balance as she completes various fine motor activities.

 

 

Vertical Surfaces:
Writing on vertical surfaces—such as an easel—will help your child develop a good grasp and learn the appropriate wrist position for drawing and writing. Three-year-olds should draw or paint on a vertical surface every day. Drawing on a vertical surface tends to encourage the proper formation of shapes and letters.

 

 

If you do not have an easel in your home, let your child use a sturdy 3” three-ring binder as a table-top easel or set up a binder for your child to use while lying on the floor (see instructions on page 71). Another simple solution is to tape or clip paper to the wall to create a vertical drawing and writing surface.

In most fine motor activities, it is a good idea to use materials that are cost effective and environmentally friendly. Materials such as old newspaper, magazines, and greeting cards can be effectively re-used in fun and interesting ways. With the appropriate tools and materials, young children are more likely to develop self-confidence and a sense of pride about achieving independence in the particular fine motor activity. Here are some items to use with your preschooler at home: