What Are Fine Motor Skills?
Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using the small muscles in our hands and wrists. People use fine motor skills to do many school- and work-related tasks.
People who struggle with fine motor skills may have trouble writing, drawing, holding a pen, cutting with scissors or using a keyboard.
- Frequently in a fisted position with both hands after 6 months of age
- Not bringing both hands to midline (center of body) by 10 months of age
- Not banging objects together by 10 months of age
- Not clapping their hands by 12 months of age
- Not deliberately and immediately releasing objects by 12 months of age
- Not able to tip and hold their bottle by themselves and keep it up, without lying down, by 12 months of age
- Still using a fisted grasp to hold a crayon at 18 months of age
- Not using a mature pincer grasp (thumb and index finger, pad to pad) by 18 months of age
- Not imitating a drawing of a vertical line by 24 months of age
- Not able to snip with scissors by 30 months
If you are noticing delays in your child’s fine motor development, fill ONESTI’s developmental Checklist and contact our professionals to help you identify why your child is having difficulty performing daily life activities. ONESTI will also provide you with fun exercises which can be practiced through your daily routines to improve fine motor skills.
What Are Gross Motor Skills?
Gross motor skills are the abilities required in order to control the large muscles of the body for walking, running, sitting, crawling , and other activities.
People who struggle with gross motor skills have trouble doing whole-body movements required to achieve daily life activities like taking a shower, moving around, going to work, driving a car…
- Not rolling by 7 months of age
- Not pushing up on straight arms, lifting his head and shoulders, by 8 months of age
- Not sitting independently by 10 months of age
- Not crawling (“commando” crawling–moving across the floor on his belly) by 10 months of age
- Not creeping (on all fours, what is typically called “crawling”) by 12 months of age
- Not sitting upright in a child-sized chair by 12 months of age
- Not pulling to stand by 12 months of age
- Not standing alone by 14 months of age
- Not walking by 18 months of age
- Not jumping by 30 months of age
- Not independent on stairs (up and down) by 30 months of age
If you are noticing delays in your child’s motor development, do not wait! Fill ONESTI’s developmental Checklist and contact our professionals to help you know the reasons behind your child’s poor motor performance and learn how to improve your child’s motor skills using targeted and evidence-based exercises that are fun and enjoyable.
Disorders
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (sometimes referred to as Dyspraxia) show extreme clumsiness and/or significant impairment in motor coordination. Symptoms of Developmental Coordination Disorder vary with age and developmental stage.
There are other disorders that can cause motor challenges, some of which are related to genetic disorders such as Down’s syndrome, or neurological disorders such Cerebral palsy, others that are a result of external factors such as trauma.
If your child is diagnosed with any disorder affecting motor development, do not wait! Reach UP program at ONESTI is designed to work on the development and improvement of your child’s motor skills. The program aims to empower you as parents to use effective techniques and methods to stimulate your child’s motor abilities by applying the targeted skills in your normal daily routine activities.
