By the time your child turns three-years-old, they should start learning how to write. To start writing, they need to develop their fine motor skills. These skills involve the small muscles in their hands, which can only be strengthened through practice. If you enroll your child in a Montessori preschool, they’ll strengthen their fine motor skills through the hands-on curriculum.
If your child isn’t old enough for preschool, or their current schooling is lacking in fine motor development, you can step in at home with activities backed by the Montessori philosophy.
Help your child develop fine motor skills at home with these activities:
- Drawing and coloring with markers, crayons, paint brushes, and other other tools that require small hand movements.
- Playing with putty and slime encourages children to practice pinching, rolling, and pulling with their fingers.
- Threading beads onto a string requires hand-eye coordination and accurate hand movements.
- Posting and slotting toys is similar to threading beads, but it also exercises your child’s shape-recognition and spatial awareness.
- Weaving yarn around cardboard shapes exercises dual coordination, as your child has to hold the cardboard shape in one hand while maneuvering the yard with the other.
- Finger painting is a fun and artistic way for your child to practice individual finger movements.
- Buttoning coats and other clothes teaches self-care while practicing small finger motions.
Montessori preschool develops fine motor skills away from home.
Three-years-old is a great age to enroll your child in a Montessori preschool, where children are offered countless activities that engage fine motor skills. Whether children are playing with slotting toys or learning how to set the table for lunch, their hands stay busy, because the Montessori method is always hands-on and never inactive.
Hill Point Montessori is dedicated to building confidence and lifelong skills through hands-on lessons. Our preschool program is designed for children 3-6 years old. Click here to schedule an in-person tour. Please note that masks and social distancing are required.
