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How do you feel about handwriting? Is it a traditional art or something that is still relevant today?  Our own handwriting often feels very personal, tailored to our own unique style, which makes it a part of our self-image and even an expression of our personality.  I remember spending a long time perfecting my signature! Handwriting is an important way of communicating and expressing language, and just like speech, it also leaves a lasting record. It is a physical way of expressing thoughts and ideas and communicating with others.  When your child masters writing their name or their first sentence, they may feel extremely proud to have made (and left) their mark and this may feel like a really important rite of passage.   

As a parent, it can feel like ‘Fine Motor Skills’ is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot by experts, but never really gets explained all too well. You might know it to be an essential part of your child’s physical learning (which is most certainly is!), but what even is it anyway? Let’s break it down. 

As a parent, it can feel like there is constant pressure to spend money on toys for children. The choices when it comes to what toys are best for your child are impossibly endless, too. Is it better to opt for only wooden toys, or is plastic actually pretty fantastic? 

What are our fine motor skills? 

You might have heard people talking about heuristic play or have seen adverts for various different treasure baskets and wondered what exactly these people were talking about. In this blog, we will explore some of the ideas that underpin treasure baskets and heuristic play, and offer some suggestions about how you could use some of these ideas at home.  

Many of us remember the moment our newborn baby gripped our finger for the first time. Your baby curling their fingers around your finger is one of several primitive reflexes which develop in the womb and are present for weeks or months after birth until your baby develops the strength and control to make voluntary movements. In this blog, we explore three reflexes that could be described as grasp reflexes and consider how these link to your baby’s development. 

One of many wonderful things about babies and young children is that they really don’t seem to mind if you sing out of tune, or don’t remember absolutely every word for the songs and rhymes that you sing. That means that you can enjoy singing songs and saying rhymes with an audience who will think you are great even if you might be a bit out of tune!  

Fine Motor Skills are the skills that develop following on from the progression of gross motor movements. Fine motor skills involve intricate, more defined actions that require manual dexterity such as picking things up between a finger and thumb, wriggling toes and even the manipulation of lips and tongue. 

Fine motor skill is something that begins developing as soon as your child is born, and children make numerous fine motor milestones throughout their early childhood. As they begin to experiment and master their new skills, there is a wide range of methods and activities that can support their fine motor development. Many ideas can be found for every stage of fine motor development on the My First Five Years app, as well as detailed breakdowns on each small stage of development along the way. 

Have you ever noticed a baby concentrating on picking up a small toy? The small but skilled movements required aren't present at birth but babies quickly develop these fine motor skills. Fine motor skills is one of our six key streams of development in the My First Five Years app. Fine motor skills develop following on from the progression of gross motor movements. This is because fine motor skills require the strength and coordination of the gross motor muscles to operate smaller muscles in the body, such as hands, fingers and wrists.