MOVE
Fine Motor Skills
Infants and toddlers are working to develop small muscle control, strength, and coordination
At A Glance
Young children develop fine motor skills when they clap, stack toys, or hold objects with their hands and fingers. These actions require children to use small muscle control, strength, and coordination. As these skills grow, children can better use their hands and fingers to manipulate, experiment with, and actively participate in the world around them. Fine motor skills develop with practice! We can support this development by giving them time and space to practice purposefully using objects and their bodies during exploration, play, and daily routines.
What It Looks Like
A quick glance at ways you can support infants' and toddlers’ fine motor skills
Describe Actions
Label and demonstrate different ways children manipulate objects during play like this educator does.
Narrate and Label Fine Motor Skills
Intentionally focus children’s attention on fine motor movements by modeling and describing your actions and their impact.
Provide Opportunities for Different Grips
Offer children lots of chances to grip various objects like the thin handle of a wand or the handle of a musical instrument.
EXPLORING MOVEMENT THROUGH BOOKS
I Can Do It Too!
EXPLORING MOVEMENT THROUGH BOOKS
Ten Little Fingers
TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE
Support Through Fine Motor Art
This blog post from the Virginia Infant & Toddler Specialist Network discusses the benefit of children’s participation in the arts in supporting the development of fine motor and social-emotional skills.
FAMILY CONNECTION
Fine Motor Skills at Home
CONSIDERING EQUITY
Support Children’s Scissor Skills
Children with and without disabilities benefit from developing scissor skills. This Neurological and Physical Abilitation (NAPA) Center article discusses scissor-cutting activities that develop children’s fine motor skills through various stages.
Activity Cards for Infant and Toddler Classrooms
Part of the STREAMin3 curriculum, these activity cards provide simple and fun ways to support children's fine motor skills
Exploring Books
Browsing through books offers many opportunities to develop fine motor skills.
Fine Motor Meals
Meals are a great time to practice new grips and strengthen fine motor skills.
Snowball Fun
Encourage children to scrunch scrap paper into balls and practice tossing them into a basket.
Get Our Resource Guide
Includes questions and activities to guide your use of the videos, book suggestions, and activity cards featured for each of the Core Skills
