Fine Motor in the Classroom

Hello families! We have been seeing so many rapid changes in the Seedlings over the past few weeks. One big change we are seeing is a strengthening in fine motor skills. We are seeing the Seedlings try to reach up high and hook their jackets by the loop or hood, we are seeing them retrieve soap with ease, open lunch and snack containers independently, and use their pincer grip to manipulate items. We wanted to send some photos and explanations of this in the classroom so you can make connections between home and school. When spending time with your child, notice how laborious a task can be for a two year old when you step back and observe. Notice what else is at work when they attempt to reach up to retrieve an item from some place high. Are they on their tip toes? Is their core engaged? Are their arms flexed and fingers in a pincer grip position? The children are applying maximum effort and strength these days and it is wonderful to see!

Removing Sheets

The children practice taking their sheets off of their cots every day. This is a hard motion as it requires the child to pull towards them and around the cot. Some children need a hand to practice the concept of "around" but most often each child is excited to try this skill.

Here, one of our students works hard to pull his sheets towards him and then out and around the bottom of the cot. A teacher holds the cot up and when the child has taken the top two corners off, we flip the cot so they can stand and retrieve the last two corners.

Unzipping Coats

The children practice unzipping their coats in each morning. It is challenging to be able to pull downwards away from one's body. We are still working on finishing the end of the zipper (which requires two hands, one to hold the bottom and one to pull the zipper off the track) but the Seedlings are getting there!

Hanging Coats

This week we put up some hooks along the wall near our front door with photos of each child above. Not only does this provide more space in each child's cubby to find what they need independently, but it also provides a hook at a height that provides for more success with each try. The children are learning how to find the loop inside their jackets and hang them on the hook. The pride glows across their faces when they do it by themselves! You can bring this into your home by sourcing a command hook and sticking it near your front door! This will allow them to put their coat away or retrieve it on their own!

Fine Motor Materials

Most of our materials require some version of fine motor dexterity. You can see in the images below just how small some of these motions are. One child uses a small pincer grip to pick up each toothpick and place it into the holes of the container. When he's finished, he twists the lid and pours the toothpicks back into the bowl. Another child uses two paintbrushes with our watercolors. She uses her three finger grip to hold each paintbrush and dip them into the watercolors. Another student uses her fingers to carefully push and wipe the paper towel across our sink to clean off all of the paint. A group of Seedlings use our paper ripping work. Ripping paper is a fantastic exercise to practice the motion of pulling. We put out tissue paper to begin this practice and will change it to regular paper as the children gain the strength to pull the paper apart.

Outside Time

Outside, the children use fine motor in a variety of ways. Though it may seem like just big motions like running and climbing are at play, children are fine-tuning small movements too. This child squats down to collect leaves into his hands. He uses his fingers to close his hands with leaves inside, and then jumps up to release them in the air!