Children, in their preschool and kindergarten years, are introduced to handwriting, art projects, and activities that require accurate cutting and writing. How well your child uses his fine motor skills determines the success they have in these activities.
It takes a lot of practice for your child to refine their fine motor skills. However, randomly scribbling on a piece of paper and holding a crayon or pencil inaccurately can potentially impede your child’s progress with these essential skills and promote bad habits they must unlearn.
Training your child to use their fine motor muscles in their fingers correctly from the start makes it much easier for them to hold and use scissors and pencils. For this important practice, there are certain types of stationery that are better suited for children with fine motor difficulties.
Tracing Worksheets
Encourage your child to practice by providing them with engaging tracing worksheets designed to help them develop essential muscles in their hands and fingers. These tracing worksheets also help improve coordination between their hand that holds their pencil (dominant) and their hand the holds the paper steady while writing (non-dominant).
Tracking lines of various types help prepare your child for writing by enhancing early development skills. Your child will have fun tracing lines of different actions, objects, shapes, and animals.
Mazes Worksheets
Before your child can consistently form or trace numbers and letters correctly, they need control over their pencil so they can move it properly. A fun way to practice manipulating a pencil is with mazes. Your child will operate their pencil in the maze and keep in between the lines — both of which help with control.
Scissors Skills Worksheets
Scissors skills worksheets will help your child develop their fine motor skills as they cut out different types of lines. For instance, farm animal worksheets are fun to cut and paste. Your child can color in the animals and then use their scissors to cut sections and paste them together to create a pig, cow, chicken, or horse.
Fine motor worksheets, stationery, and activities give your child the specific practice they need to use scissors and pencils properly and develop their fine motor skills. Stationery that’s designed to help your child write letters and numbers, as well as having them work with heavy paper or construction paper will provide your child the opportunity to enhance their fine motor skills. Talk with your child’s pediatric occupational therapist to give you more ideas.