Fine motor movements play a delicate role in our lives. The development of hand function can affect learning in school, independence, peer interaction and how children play games.

The common symptoms for children who suffer from poor fine motor movement are: dropping objects often, writing or scribbling too hard or not smoothly, abnormal pencil grip, poor performance putting on shirts or shoes (such as fastening buttons, tying shoestrings, zipping up), poor performance in crafts or assembly, taking a long time to finish homework, complaining about soreness while writing and etc.

Reasons hand function development may have been impacted include: sensory issues, muscle strength, position or motion control, motion planning, bilateral integration ability, etc. After an evaluation by our occupational therapist, he or she will offer a tailored training plan and home exercises for your child. “Practice Makes Perfect,” a book written by Wu Tuan-wen, CEO of Kickstart Sensory Integration Education Company, Limited, provides many fine motor training activities that you can have your child practice at home. These movements are designed to help children develop hand stability (such as writing and hand operation ability) through games and activities recommended in the book.

Hand function training has been prove to improve:

• Hand muscle strength or endurance
• Body control
• Hand motion control
• Bilateral coordination
• Inner palm coordination
• Writing and penmanship
• Tool operation or usage
• A more independent life