Once a toddler has mastered gross motor skills such as running, hopping, climbing, or throwing, it is time to focus on developing fine motor skills. But what does fine motor skills actually mean and why is it so important to promote them?
Fine motor skills are always trained when the child uses the many small, delicate muscles in their hands, fingers, wrists, toes and face. These muscle groups need to be trained because the fine motor skills will help your child to improve hand-eye coordination, articulate themselves clearly and concentrate for longer. They also promote his self-esteem and help him to become even more independent.
Fine motor skills are required, among other things, to hold a pen. Your child needs this dexterity for drawing and painting, but also for writing. Trained fine motor skills are also required for cutting with scissors while doing handicrafts, turning the pages of a book while reading, for play activities such as building with blocks, laying puzzles or dressing dolls and cuddly toys. As the child gets older, activities that encourage independence become important. This includes getting dressed (tying shoelaces, opening and closing zippers, buttons and buckles), eating (using cutlery, opening and closing the sandwich bag / lunch box) and personal hygiene (combing, drying, applying lotion, brushing your teeth).
Five Montessori toys f u r children from 2 years to train fine motor skills
We live in a time when the toy market is almost flooded. It is therefore all the more important to choose every toy your child deals with carefully and with a focus on sustainability: Can the toy be used over a long period of time without the child losing interest in it? Is it of good quality and does it stand up to curious children’s hands? Are there enough opportunities to explore new things while playing the game? Does it promote creativity? Does it stimulate the child to learn, does it help them to develop their language further?
For the promotion and development of fine motor skills, there are a number of useful and durable toys that help your child use and coordinate all of the muscle groups mentioned above. Here we have listed five of our favorites:
Stacking tower in rainbow colors
This classic stacking toy is ideal for a range of free play activities, even for the little ones. Whether color recognition or sorting of the individual parts according to their size, whether building small sculptures or balance exercises – there are no limits to the imagination. When stacking, hand-eye coordination is stimulated and fine motor skills are trained. The individual parts quickly become a cradle for the doll, a car bridge, a tiny dwarf house or a fence for animals. The natural surface treatment ensures that the motley rainbow is really safe for young children. What we particularly like about this Montessori toy is the color scheme, which lets the grain of the wood shine through.
