Child development and growing up
Hand skills
Hand skills (also known as fine motor skills) are important for our day-to-day lives. As your child plays with their hands, they will develop their hand strength and dexterity. This will help them use tools like cutlery, pencils, and scissors.
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Messy play
Messy play is also known as sensory play or adventure play. It is where your child plays with no rules using a variety of different materials and objects. It’s play that is not based around a specific toy. Children learn a lot of things through play as it allows them to experiment and understand different things in a fun way.
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Getting ready to write
Making marks is foundation of being able to control a pencil, draw lines and shapes and then being able to draw. Mark making is considered part of ‘pre-writing’ which are the skills learned to enable children to hold pencils and pens and start to write letters and words.
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Handwriting and typing
Whilst technology has moved forward, learning to write by hand is still an essential skill. Handwriting helps us how we picture a letter sound and shape in our minds. Also, having to write things on paper helps improve spelling and reading skills.
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Supporting your child's handwriting skills
Handwriting can be hard and tiring for some children. Read more about helpful equipment like pencil grips, ergonomic pens and pencils. Learn about the correct positions for their chair and table.
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Scissor skills
Scissor skills are important for many school activities like arts and crafts. You can find advice on how to get started with teaching your child scissor skills and help them develop their skills and build confidence.
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Supporting your child's scissor skills
Using scissors can be be hard for some children. Read more about supported snipping, activities you can do with your child to help their scissor skills and the different types of scissors available.
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Developing your child's cutlery skills
Learning to self-feed requires a complex range of skills that develop over time. It is common for children to find it hard to use cutlery and to stay clean whilst eating. Read about helpful tools, equipment and activities to support your child's development of their cutlery skills.
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