Fine Motor Skills Articles by Kim atGriffinOT

Fine motor skills are the movements we make with our fingers and hands. They are essential for most of our daily activities (think scrolling, typing, doing up buttons!). In these articles Kim explores everything from left handed scissors to pencil grasp to handwriting.

Teaching children scissor skills and cutting – what are the steps?

By GriffinOT|2021-03-12T13:15:12+00:0022nd March 2021|Fine Motor Skills, News, Scissor Skills|

Scissor skills stages Learning to cut with scissors is more complex than it may initially seem. It requires good postural control, good hand-eye coordination and the ability to use both hands together. In [...]

Letter formation families – the ONLY way to teach handwriting

By GriffinOT|2021-03-18T15:55:21+00:009th March 2021|Fine Motor Skills, Handwriting, News|

Making handwriting easier Handwriting is a complex skill, but there are tips which make learning it easier. One of the most helpful things you can do, as a teacher or parent, is to [...]

Pre-writing shapes – what are they and how to teach them?

By GriffinOT|2021-11-16T11:04:29+00:0022nd February 2021|Fine Motor Skills, Handwriting, News|

The importance of pre-writing shapes Pre-writing shapes are the lines and shapes a child needs to be able to draw prior to learning to write. They are the shapes which form letters, such [...]

Teaching handwriting to children – what every teacher must know

By GriffinOT|2021-11-16T10:59:37+00:008th February 2021|Fine Motor Skills, News|

Handwriting is a complex skill Handwriting is a skill that is taught in every school. There are many approaches to teaching handwriting. Some schools focus on the cursive first approach. Others teach handwriting [...]

Homeschooling Sensory Tips for Parents

By GriffinOT|2021-11-29T06:23:50+00:0025th March 2020|Fine Motor Skills, News, Sensory Challenges, Sensory Supports|

Supporting each other at home This post has been written for parents who are homeschooling their children. Many of these will be helpful for children who don’t have any diagnosis as they relate [...]

To pencil grip, or not to pencil grip?

By GriffinOT|2021-11-09T20:19:18+00:0030th January 2020|Fine Motor Skills, Handwriting, News|

Pros and cons of pencil grasps For children who have an immature pencil grasp, there are many pencil grips available to help. In this post I will use the term ‘grip’ to refer [...]

Handwriting – looking beyond the tripod pencil grasp

By GriffinOT|2021-11-09T19:56:00+00:0030th January 2020|Fine Motor Skills, Handwriting, News|

Pencil grasp is a complicated affair The way a child holds onto their pencil is often a focus of assessment in the early years. A mature pencil grasp supports pencil skill maturity and [...]

What’s the Difference Between Right and Left Handed Scissors?

By GriffinOT|2021-11-10T12:45:38+00:007th January 2020|Fine Motor Skills, Scissor Skills|

Can you tell by looking? Have you ever wondered what the difference between left and right handed scissors is? You know that left handed (LH) children should have specific scissors. Often, you probably [...]

Five essential motor skills for handwriting success

By GriffinOT|2021-11-16T10:58:35+00:0013th December 2019|Fine Motor Skills, Handwriting, News|

There's more to handwriting than meets the eye Handwriting is an incredibly complex skill. Before children can hold a pencil, they need to be able to sit up and move their arm independently [...]

Cutting Skills – Six Tips for Teaching Children How to Use Scissors

By GriffinOT|2021-03-06T15:02:20+00:003rd November 2019|Fine Motor Skills, News, Scissor Skills|

Helping with cutting skills Cutting skills are a typical activity taught in every classroom. Using scissors to cut successfully is almost a rite of passage for any child. Especially those who have ‘accidentally’ [...]

Using occupational therapy recommendations in your classroom

By GriffinOT|2021-11-26T01:18:44+00:007th September 2019|Fine Motor Skills, News, Sensory Supports|

Embedding OT supports into your classroom When I first graduated, quite some time ago now, I was frustrated at what I interpreted as a lack of support from educators in following through with [...]