Day: December 15, 2022

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Finger and Fine motor and hand

Hi , in this blog , I will talk about some fabulous fine motor skills to work with individuals on the spectrum

What are fine motor movements –

These are skills are intricate finger and hand movements ,These skills are important for feeding , dressing , writing , playing with different toys , manipulating phone and tablets , switching on and off devices

Basically we use the small muscles in our hand to do all the activities mentioned

It is important to know and understand that for effective fine motor functioning , one needs good core stability and shoulder strength.

These big muscles provide stable base for hands .

Please note that when we reach our hand forward to hold and pick up a glass to bring it to our mouth , the force is also brought by good shoulder girdle strength and core musculature

That is why you must wonder why a physiotherapist of your child is doing lot of heavy work activities for core and upper limbs , he /she is also aiming to build good fine motor control and tone in your child by this muscle synergy

Also it is important to encourage good posture (head, neck, thorax and lumbar area ) for good fine motor work like writing , painting , playing with toys.

Here I ll suggest some fine motor activities /games to try with your child to work on fingers , hands and fine motor manipulation

1. Sorting games with tweezers and tongs
2. Piggy bank games
3. Joiningg links and c links toys
4. Legos and duplo blocks
5. Drawing with different drawing tools like crayons , markers , brush pens
6. Playing different musical instruments –keyboards and drums
7. Peelings and pasting stickers , finger painting , ear bud painting
8. Posting games – rolling balls to a target , marble runs ,shape sorters
9. Threading and lacing kits
10. Peg boards
11. Building blocks
12. Playdough , potter ‘s clay
13. Making paper clip chains
14. Cloth pegs to weaned off the paper or clothes
15. Putting lids on containers of different kinds
16. Cap on and off from different writing tools
17. Origami and paper folding
18. Lock and key set
19. Kitchen set with encouragement for pouring , stirring , tossing and mixing, gardening set
20. Weaving and knittting paper strip crafts 

All these activities will indirectly help in making your child independent with different self help skills

Every activity will help to develop a new engram in the brain of your child , more and regular practice will strengthen that engram for that fine motor skills

What the child gains

1. Good fine motor strength and tone
2. Finger dissociation
3. Development of instrumental life skills
4. Inhand rotations
5. Pincer , palmar , cylindrical , lumbrical and hook grip
6. Dynamic tripod and scissor grip
7. Creative epressive and better finger based motor planning
8. Executive functions and problem solving

Hence fine motor skills should not be ignored hence proved

Thankyou!!

Creative efforts and finger painting enthusiast – Heena Sahi

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Thank you Morpheus Nag for the artwork !!