Fine motor skills games for children: steady hands, nimble fingers

It depends on the game: handling a tool such as the magnetic wand in Bellz!, a steady hand and careful pulling in Mikado, and finely controlled force when stacking in Animal Upon Animal or Jenga. In Make 'n' Break, players take in a model and turn it into hand movements; this calls for hand-eye coordination. Tile-laying and puzzle games such as Katamino Family or Tangram also require turning pieces in your head. The skills profile in each review shows what is in the foreground.

Expert bodies give rough guidelines. At around 3, children pick up small objects with the fingertips of their thumb, index finger and middle finger. At 4, they hold a pencil between the tips of their first three fingers, and at 5, they cut along a line with children's scissors. For three-year-olds, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends activities such as threading large wooden beads, building with blocks and doing simple jigsaw puzzles; Katamino Family calls for similar hand movements. Every child develops at their own pace.

There is a link: in an analysis of several long-term studies, fine motor skills at school entry predicted later achievement in maths and reading. In a study of 213 children, it was above all copying shapes from a model that was associated with better results in school tests. However, these studies do not show whether targeted practice with games improves school performance; what is cause and what is effect remains open.

First of all: children develop at different speeds in this area. Games in which everyone wins or loses together, such as Orchard, are helpful, as are speed games played without a timer at first. Adults can give themselves a handicap, for example by playing with their weaker hand. In stacking games such as Animal Upon Animal, a collapse often causes laughter rather than frustration. If your child seems much clumsier than other children of the same age when moving their hands and fingers, talk to your child's doctor.