Are you in search of toys that not only stimulate learning but also promote the development of fine motor skills and preliminary skills?
Learning to use their hands to perform intricate tasks is among the major developmental milestones that most children often face hardships developing and performing.
Grasping their teething toy, rattling keys, opening door knobs, and holding a pencil are some prime examples of fine motor activities that make our day-to-day lives easier.
Toys for Fine motor development are pivotal during the early stages of development to strengthen the muscles present in the hands, fingers, and wrists.
It can become pretty perplexing to find effective toys that facilitate the development of fine motor skills in children from myriads of toys that often become more of a distraction than a help.
Toys that facilitate the development of fine motor skills in children are simple, easy to use, and child friendly.
While most toys integrate complex components that end up overstimulating the child, Toys for fine motor skills incorporate age-appropriate stimuli to isolate each skill and provide the child with an optimum learning experience.
To help ease the process of choosing the best toys for your child to enhance their play experience below will be a list of some of the best Toys for Fine Motor skills.
What are Fine Motor Skills?
To simply describe fine motor, they are innate abilities that individuals hold that govern the movement of smaller or finer muscles present in the hands, wrists, and fingers.
Fine motor skills are abilities that govern daily intricate movements such as holding, pulling, grabbing, grasping, pulling, writing, pinching, twisting, and gripping, among others.
Fine Motor skills are also referred to as dexterity which are skills required for performing tasks involving hands.
Fine motor skills are integral for common aspects of life like academics (writing or holding a pencil), self-care (tying laces or buttoning the shirt), and hygiene (brushing one’s teeth).
Why is Fine Motor Skill Development Important for Children?
The development of fine motor skills especially for children who are 2 years of age and younger is pivotal for optimum development.
Fine Motor skills are abilities that help perform tasks that involve dexterity and refined use of smaller muscles that control the movement of hands, fingers, and wrists.
Simple tasks like writing, holding a pencil, buttoning a shirt, unbuttoning a shirt, gripping, and even feeding oneself require fine motor skills.
When Fine Motor Skills are underdeveloped, one might feel incompetent and may fail to perform age-appropriate tasks that might set them back.
Developing the hands of your younger ones requires dexterity, practice, and strength. Here are some activities that involve Fine Motor Skills:
- Holding a pen or pencil
- Drawing
- Dressing
- Brushing teeth and hair
- Pouring
- Transferring
- Typing or using a keyboard
- Using rulers, scissors, and other equipment.
The child must develop Fine Motor Skills to perform everyday tasks with any adult assistance. It is important to develop Fine Motor Skills in children to help them achieve academic attainments.
What to look for when Buying Toys for Fine Motor Skills?
Fine motor skills often develop and enhance based on your child’s age, in fact, the skills often progress as the child grows up.
When purchasing a toy for fine motor skills the key factor is to look for its age-appropriate stimuli and components.
Here is how you can find the best toys for fine motor skill development in children, based on your child’s age-appropriate needs and requirements:
Fine Motor Toys for Infants:
During the infancy stage, the child is able to independently perform simpler tasks involving dexterity such as mastering the pincer grip to hold the pencil, uncover or cover boxes, pick up an object in motion, and scribble or paint among many others.
During this stage, it is best to provide the child with larger objects to interact with or manipulate to not only avoid choking hazards but also develop their foundation for fine motor skills with age-appropriate stimuli.
Fine Motor Toys for toddlers:
By the stage of toddlerhood, the child is able to perform more complex tasks involving dexterity.
By this stage, the child is able to fold a sheet of paper once when instructed, insert larger pegs into holes, stack blocks, take apart toys and put them together, and mold clay.
Hence it is best to integrate fine motor skills toys that not only facilitate the development of fine motor skills but also challenge the child to enhance their problem-solving skills and critical thinking.
Fine Motor Toys for Preschoolers:
This stage is where you further enhance your child’s fine motor abilities to provide them with optimum development.
After the age of 2 years, the child is able to easily manipulate smaller components, build a tower of over 6 blocks, coordinate their wrists and hand movements, and fully develop their three-finger pincer grip to hold writing materials.
Providing children with more challenging toys for fine motor skills that allow children to coordinate their hand-eye movements and wrist movements is a great way of developing your child’s fine motor skills.
A list of the Best Toys for Fine Motor Skills:
Finding toys can be a daunting task for most beginner parents who are looking for effective toys that facilitate holistic development in children.
Toys for fine motor skills are more than just developing dexterity in children, in fact, these toys are a gateway to developing cognitive skills in children.
Children when playing with toys for fine motor development are able to enhance their attention span, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
If you are in search of effective toys that facilitate fine motor development in children but are unable to find the ones that cater to your child’s needs and requirements, look no further.
Here is a list of some of the best toys for fine motor skills that not only provide your child with a meaningful learning experience but also facilitate holistic development:
Skoolzy Counting Rainbow Bears with Matching Sorting Cups and Dice:
The Skoolzy Counting Rainbow Bears with Matching Sorting Cups and dice is a fun and exciting Toy for fine motor skills that also develops the child’s sorting as well as categorizing skills.
This Fun toy for fine motor skills comes with large-sized bear figurines in rainbow colors, corresponding sorting cups, scoopers, and dice.
Children are promoted to use a scooper to manipulate and maneuver the teddy bears and sort them into their corresponding cups.
This fine motor toy for children is not only great for developing the child’s fine motor skills, but it also allows them to develop their hand-eye coordination and categorizing skills.
Melissa and Doug Latch Busy Board:
Melissa and Doug Latch Busy board is perfect for developing the child’s fine motor skills.
This fun and engaging toy for fine motor skills is the ultimate toy for promoting open-ended play as it comes with different latches, knobs, and hooks for the child to manipulate.
This busy board does more than just develop your child’s fine motor skills, in fact, it is also great for developing your child’s attention span and providing them with meaningful stimuli to calm them down and keep them busy.
Hape Creative Peg Puzzle:
While traditional peg puzzle boards are great for effectively developing your child’s fine motor skills, The Hape Creative Peg Puzzle board is a great Montessori-Inspired toy that goes beyond just developing fine motor skills in children.
This toy for fine motor skills comes with a grooved peg board along with corresponding tiles fashioning different holes.
The main aim of this toy is to develop the child’s fine motor skills along with developing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Allow your child to autonomously adjust each tile in its corresponding peg at the base but twisting, turning, and analyzing.
TOMY Tommie Hide and Squeak Eggs:
The TOMY Tommie Hide and Squeak Eggs is an affordable, child-friendly, versatile, and simple toy for fine motor skills.
This toy is suitable for infants between the ages of 12 months to 18 months to develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
Allow your child to take the eggs from the carton, take the egg out of the shell, squish the egg to make squeaky sounds, and develop their fine motor skills.
Learning Resources Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog:
The Learning Resources Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog is a great educational toy that aims to effectively develop fine motor skills in children.
This toy comes with a hedgehog toy fashioning different colored holes on varied angles along with their corresponding colored plastic spikes.
Children are promoted to place each spike into its corresponding hold and develop their fine motor skills.
Not only does this fun toy develop your child’s fine motor skills, but also helps children identify and recognize colors, in turn developing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Playskool Dressy Kids Plush:
The Playskool Dressy Kids Plush toy is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to develop their fine motor skills and practical life skills.
This simple toy comes in the form of a plush toy that has different components that can be manipulated to refine motor skills as zippers, buckles, shoelaces, and buttons.
This toy goes beyond developing your child’s fine motor skills promoting the child to reach age-appropriate milestones and enhancing their practical life skills.
Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Smart Stages Piggy Bank:
The Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Smart Stages Piggy Bank is a great toy for children between the ages of 6 months to 36 months.
This fun fine motor skills toy is highly versatile with three different difficulty settings, that not only develop your child’s fine motor skills but also teach them about different animal sounds, numbers, colors, and speech.
Melissa and Doug Shape Sorting Cube:
Shape Sorting toys are classic toys for fine motor skills that allow children to develop their math skills and fine motor skills simultaneously.
The Melissa and Doug Shape Sorting cube comes with 12 different shaped blocks along with a cube fashioning corresponding holes.
Allow the child to develop their fine motor skills by manipulating the blocks and maneuvering the blocks and placing them into their corresponding holes.
Play 22 Activity Cube with Bead Maze:
The Play 22 Activity Cube with Bead Maze is perfect for children between the ages of 12 months and up.
This toy for fine motor skills is perfect for developing the child’s dexterity as it comes with five different levels including sliders, bead maze, counting beads, shape sorter, and spinning number blocks.
With each unique activity, the child is able to develop their fine motor skills, cognitive skills, logical reasoning, math skills, problem-solving skills, sorting skills, color identification, and number learning.