Fine motor skills your child should be good at before school.

Pencil grasp

Between 1 and 2 year your child should be developing fine movements in the following sequence

Development of fine pinch grip and precise release of small objects
Both hands develop skilled function and work together
Crayon is held initially in the palm as if holding a Dagger (Palmar Supinate ).Movement mainly occurs from shoulder, the arm and hand move as a unit.
Makes marks on paper with crayon
Vigorous scribble in imitation
Scribbles spontaneously
Draws a stroke then obliterates by scribbling
Imitates drawing a vertical line

Between 2-4 years your child should be doing the following

Crayon or tools may be held across all fingers, with the palm facing down. Digital Pronate grasp.Movement mainly occurs at the elbow, the forearm and hand move as a unit.
Imitates drawing a circle
Copies a horizontal line
Copies a vertical line
Draws 2 or more strokes when attempting to copy a cross.

Between 3-4 years your child should

The fingers (often all four) are held on the pencil shaft opposite the thumb.
Copies a circle
Imitates a horizontal cross
Imitates a zig zag line
Joins two dots
Draws a diagonal stroke by following a continuous dotted line
Traces over a diamond shape (rounded corners)
Draws a man with a head and one other body part e.g. arms, legs
Traces and stays on most of the time a 7cm wide horizontal line.

Static Tripod grasp :

Adjustments to the pencil are made with the opposite hand (3½ – 4 years).

Quadropodgrasp :

Movement can occur from the wrist, the hand moves as a unit with the fingers static.

Between 4-6 years

Child developing ability to manipulate objects between the fingers and palm and rotate objects with the fingers.
Uses a Static Tripod grasp of a pencil consistently
Developing fine control to manipulate a pencil
The thumb, index and middle fingers work as a unit for precise control of the pencil, the ring and little fingers provide support. Horizontal movement across the page occurs at the wrist elbow and shoulder (4½ to 6 years).
Copies a diagonal line, a square, a diagonal cross, circle and triangle
Draws a man with a head, arms and legs
Colours in a simple picture staying mainly within the lines (no more than 0.6 cm)
Draws a man with a head, trunk, arms, legs, feet and three facial features
Connects a series of dots to make a simple drawing

Incorrect Pencil Grasps

These are ineffective pencil grasps as they interfere with your speed of writing, handwriting or with the pressure you apply on paper. Get them corrected quickly. Your child may need special pencil grips which are available with us along with therapy for fingers and hand functions.

Scissoring/Cutting skills

Difficulty with finger placement on scissors
Uses other muscle groups to coordinate activity.
Unable to cut along the line.

Places fingers in accurate position on scissors
Able to coordinate movement easily because of strength in her hands and core frame.
Cuts cleanly across line.

Colouring

Grasps marker in an abnormal way
Colors outside the lines
Unable to fill in shapes with precision and detail

Holds marker in normal way
Able to use finer point marker to achieve greater detail.
Colors inside the lines