Fine motor skills involve small muscles working with the brain and nervous system to control movement of hands, fingers, lips, tongue and eyes.  Developing fine motor skills help children do things like eating, writing, manipulating objects and dressing up themselves. A child uses their fingers and thumb to pick up things. A grown up child uses their fine motor skills for actions like pulling up a zip or using scissors to cut paper. Theseskills will contribute to a child’s development and independence across all areas of learning.

Research shows that the development of fine motor skills depends on the development of gross motor skills and that a joined-up approach to physical development is important. Children need many opportunities to develop fine motor skills alongside gross motor skills so they can become confident to explore the world around them. Children start exploring different objects. With these explorations and observations,a child will naturally start to make a difference. Childrenuse their whole body while playing with mud, paint or wheatflour on a trayor with food at mealtime, a toddler splash in a puddle and notice the prints they make. Therefore, these activities and observation help in enhancing both motor skills simultaneously.

Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. To sum up we can say that in early childhood education, fine motor skills play a vital role in child’s learning and overall development.