How to develop kids’ fine motor skills?

Every parent is always concerned about the physical development and brain development of their children as they grow up. We usually understand that running, jumping, throwing, and body coordination belong to children's gross motor skills, but generally, children's gross motor skills precede fine motor skills, and it is children's fine motor skills that is often neglected. What is fine motor skills?
Fine motor skills are activities that children perform with their fingers, wrists and coordinated hands.The growth and development of fine motor skills is closely related to the child's daily life, from the smallest thing to the future of their own meals, brushing their teeth and rinsing their mouths and cleaning their faces, including drawing, writing brushstrokes, making crafts, and building solid models, all of which must be accomplished through the fine movements of the hands. Although every child grows at a different rate, if you notice if there is a significant developmental delay, it should still be diagnosed immediately. The following are the patterns of fine motor skills development in children aged 3-6 years.

 

 

1. Simple control stage.  Such as tearing soft paper, kneading, and pressing soft clay; combining or splitting large snowflake pieces, pipe puzzle, putting away toys such as blocks into baskets, pushing small carts, picking up leaves, branches, etc.

2. More accurate manipulation of objects stage.

Such as pressing paper pieces with molds, screwing bottle caps, being able to cut paper, peeling eggs, mashing peanuts, stringing small beads, tearing off double-sided tape, using sandpit tools in many ways, etc.

3. Precise control of flexible coordination.

Such as drawing love hearts and writing numbers with a three-finger grip, picking up objects with chopsticks, cutting out circles along a line with both hands, zipping, buckling, tying shoelaces, braiding, etc.

"Learning fine motor skills can help children recognize the characteristics of objects, enhance the sense of success in learning, and improve self-care and writing skills."

For children with autism, the development of fine motor skills is directly related to the child's ability to care for themselves later in life.

Upon closer observation, you may notice that.

★ The child can push and run around the table, but cannot scoop up rice with a spoon.

★ They always use their whole hand to grasp things, but cannot pinch items with their thumb and index finger ......

This is all because their muscle coordination and control is poor and they can't do fine motor well.

To address this situation, we have the following methods and strategies for the development of fine motor skills in children with special needs.

1. Pay attention to developing children's hand-eye coordination.

The eyes can help children control their body movements more precisely, and hand-eye coordination is the ability of children to use their hands to do things without having to look at their hands.

1. In various teaching activities - provide rich and varied materials

Provide materials for small muscle activities that are rich in quantity and variety to meet the needs of children.

Provide materials that support children's development to a higher level.

1. Life is education - the content is linked to life

For example: common sweeping, washing towels, peeling peanuts, shelling eggs, putting on and taking off shoes and socks, clothes .........

There are also some activities that parents can interact with their children at home and guide them to do on their own.

1:Pinch bubble bags

Received a courier, if there are bubble bags, do not throw, leave the child to rub, pinch, and then listen to the sound of the perfect use of waste. This action requires the child to operate with the first joint of the fingers, for the development of small muscle groups in the child's hand muscles have an important role.

2:Twisting and turning training

Look for bottles that do not have sharp edges and guide your baby to tighten or unscrew the cap. You can also take some large screws for your baby to tighten or loosen (you must watch your baby for the smaller parts to avoid the danger of your baby putting them into his mouth). We can use this action to exercise the child's hands coordination, hand-eye coordination, but also exercise the ability to correspond, observation and finger dexterity.

3:Tear sticky notes / paper tape

Put different colors and widths of sticky notes or paper tape on safe objects and let your baby try to tear them off, or let your baby listen to instructions to tear off certain colors of sticky notes or tape. This can strengthen the baby's upper limbs and hand strength, and at the same time can teach the baby to recognize colors and improve the baby's cognitive ability.

4:Flip and reveal training

Parents and babies look at picture books or books together, and encourage babies to use their own hands to turn over and uncover. Looking at the people and objects in the picture book is not the ultimate goal, the purpose is to exercise the baby's finger and wrist strength in flipping. Therefore, regardless of whether the baby looks at the picture plot, as long as he can turn down one, even if it is several pages at a time, it does not matter, with the strengthening of finger dexterity, gradually will do from thick to thin page to page.

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5:Pick beans

Prepare some beans of different colors and sizes for your baby, such as yellow beans, green beans, red beans, black beans, lentils, etc., and let your baby pick and sort them by himself. This training not only trains the child's hand-eye coordination, but also helps to develop the child's concentration.

6:String beads

Parents can buy some beads of different colors, sizes and shapes, and let their babies wear bracelets, necklaces and other accessories by themselves. This training can achieve the training of the baby's ability to hold, turn, wear and other hand movements, but also to inspire the child's imagination, is also a good way to cultivate aesthetic education.

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The impact of fine motor development on a child's future life is huge, because as the child grows older, when he or she realizes the gap between himself or herself and other children, it will affect the child's self-confidence and inferiority complex to varying degrees, so parents should pay enough attention to it. Once the child is found to have poor fine motor, parents should promptly go to a rehabilitation institution for professional assessment of the child, according to the results of the assessment timely development of training plans, timely intervention to promote the child's ability to get better development.

Healthy diet, enhance immunity

With the new coronavirus epidemic, there is a greater awareness of the importance of boosting immunity to maintain a healthy immune system. Parents are getting their children immunized against diseases with multiple vaccines. However, parents cannot protect their children's bodies from various diseases. Children are inevitably exposed to germs and bugs in their daily lives, and if their immune systems are not strong, they are much more likely to get sick.

So how do you naturally strengthen the immune system? We all generally think of drinking more water, doing more exercise, sleeping well and eating well. But do you know what kinds of foods can help boost the immune system?

The Gifted People Services Center has compiled a list of five types of healthy foods that are beneficial for boosting immunity.

NO.01 Fruits

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Especially citrus fruits (grapefruit/orange/orange/lemon), papaya. Kiwifruit, pomegranate

Most people take vitamin C straight after a cold. that's because it helps build your immune system. Vitamin C is thought to increase the production of white blood cells, which is key to fighting infection.

Because your body doesn't produce or store vitamin C, you need it every day to stay healthy. According to the Recommended Daily Amount Trusted Sources For most adults are

- 75 mg for women

- 90 mg for men

If you choose to take a supplement, avoid taking more than 2,000 milligrams (mg) per day.

Also keep in mind that while vitamin C may help you recover more quickly from a cold, there is no evidence that it is effective against the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Almost all citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C. With so many varieties to choose from, it's easy to add a little of this vitamin to any meal. It is especially important to get plenty of protein and vitamin C during the current outbreak and while everyone is getting vaccinated. Consuming natural vitamin C from citrus fruits can help strengthen the body's immune system, promote a healthy gastrointestinal tract and have a cosmetic effect. Citrus fruits, put the dialed down peel in the room to remove the smell and prevent epidemics.

It should be noted that the intake of fruit a day needs to be moderate, because the fruit contains high levels of sugar, while like lemon fruit citric acid content is high, consumption can be combined with other fruits and vegetables, while paying attention to the protection of teeth.

NO.02 Vegetables

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Red bell pepper, broccoli, spinach, carrot, sweet potato

In the "Global Health Food Ranking" released by the World Health Organization, the top ten healthy vegetables are: sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, eggplant, potherb mustard, cabbage, beets, cabbage, asparagus, cauliflower. These vegetables are not only rich in vitamins and fiber, but also contain anti-cancer properties that have been certified by the International Center for Research Against Cancer to fight tumor cells.

Not only do you need to consume different kinds of food every day, you can also pay attention to the consumption of different colors of vegetables, different plant structure of vegetables to ensure a comprehensive nutrition.

NO.03 Nuts

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Almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds

In addition to vitamin C, vitamin E also plays a key role in immunity. Known to be very beneficial to the body, nuts bring together the nutritional essence of plants and are rich in minerals, vitamin E and B complex, which add a glow to the skin from the inside out. This fat-soluble vitamin enhances the activity of immune cells to support the body's ability to defend itself against invading bacteria and viruses. One ounce of sunflower seeds or a quarter cup provides about half of the recommended daily goal for vitamin E. The same size almond contains 45% of the daily goal. Serve with fresh fruit or whip sunflower seeds or almond butter into a smoothie.

It is important to note that nut intake should also be moderate to ensure daily requirements, as excessive use may lead to excessive fat intake.

NO.04 Yogurt

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Greek yogurt, plain yogurt

What are the benefits of yogurt?

Try to get plain yogurt instead of that flavored and sweetened yogurt. You can sweeten plain yogurt with healthy fruit and a little honey.

Yogurt is also a great source of vitamin D, so try to choose a brand that is rich in this vitamin. Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system and is thought to boost our body's natural defenses against disease.

In addition, yogurt contains probiotics, bacteria that "live" in your digestive tract and help eliminate harmful microorganisms and prevent damage to your intestines or digestive tract. Not only does it improve your intestinal environment and immune system, but it also promotes digestion. Yogurt is easier to digest and absorb than cow's milk, making it more efficient in terms of nutrient utilization. Yogurt also does not make people "lactose intolerant" like cow's milk does.

NO.05 Cereals

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Barley, brown rice, ten grain rice

Rich in B-complex vitamins and dietary fiber, which can help improve the body's metabolism.

Of course, not only limited to these grains, for example, you can also add black beans, soybeans, white beans, mung beans, etc. to make the ten-grain rice more colorful, thus making the nutrients richer, more synergistic and the overall effect more complete

NO.06 Diversify your diet

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Diversification is the key to getting proper nutrition. Eating just one of these foods is not enough to help fight the flu or other infections, even if you eat them regularly. Pay attention to portion sizes and recommended daily intakes so you don't get too much of a single vitamin and too little of the others.

Eating right, in small portions, is a good start, and you can also take other steps to strengthen to protect you and your family from the flu, colds and other illnesses.

Autumn is here, so in addition to adding clothing and keeping warm, it's also important to pay attention to improving our own resistance. While taking protective measures, pay attention to follow the seasonal changes, adjust our diet, and pay attention to our physical health.

Reference：

 

Liu, Z. (2021, June 7). 宝宝精细动作落后，家长可以这么做. 黑龙江省牡丹江南山医院. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from http://hljsmdjnsyy.org.cn/index.php/wap/yydt/579.html.