From 6 to 11 months old, your child’s fine motor development greatly improves. A favorite game during these months is “Fill and Dump”! It is these early experiences that prepare your child to have the fine motor and eye-hand coordination she will need later for drawing and writing.

Your child at this stage of beginning writing may be able to grasp a crayon with her thumb and finger. To promote grasping and using the small muscles of the fingers, you and your child can make your own jewelry.

Your child at this age may begin to isolate fingers to perform different tasks and finger isolation helps your child develop fine motor and eye-hand coordination and increases strength in fingers for drawing and writing.

Your child at this age may begin to isolate fingers to perform different tasks. A fun activity to help your child work on the fine motor muscles needed to use for writing and drawing is ripping and tearing up magazines and/or paper.

Using the thumb and index finger to pick up objects is a big advancement in fine motor development. It is these early experiences that prepare your child to have the fine motor and eye-hand coordination she will need later for drawing and writing.

Activities that help your child build and create will help her to become ready to engage in skills such as drawing, writing and cutting. Playing with puzzles increases eye-hand coordination and visual discrimination, and strengthens finger muscles.

Your child at this stage of beginning writing may be learning to grasp a crayon with his thumb and finger and begin to imitate scribbles, circles and vertical lines. These beginning fine motor activities lay the foundation needed for learning how to hold a pencil and write his name.