What is Fine Motor Coordination?

Fine motor coordination refers to our control over the small muscles in our wrists and hands. For functional purposes, it also includes our ability to easily and efficiently combine the small movements of our eyes with the actions of our hands (eye-hand coordination). Development of these skills are necessary for independence in self-care tasks such as dressing, grooming, and feeding as well as success in academic and playground tasks such as handwriting and ball skills. Red flags that your child might be having trouble with fine motor coordination include: difficulties manipulating clothing fasteners, poor handwriting, trouble using eating utensils, and avoidance of seated work (coloring and cutting). Improving your child's fine motor skills can be fun with these therapist-approved games that target fine motor and eye-hand coordination skills!