Many people who are trying to improve their kids’ handwriting will look to exercise booklets or drills, however these kinds of books don’t address the whole picture.
Why is GM skill important in handwriting?
The tiny finger muscles we use for handwriting are the fine (small) motor muscles. The other big muscles we use for sitting up straight and moving our limbs are the gross (big) motor muscles.
Just as bones are joined together, muscles are connected and affect each other.
For example, if you injure your wrist, you may have difficulty with writing or holding onto items.
Muscles are connected for body’s movement.
Gross motor skills are the skills that involve the whole body, including balance, motor planning, motor control, postural control, and coordination.
Fine motor refers to smaller coordinating muscles, like the ones in your fingers that you use to write. A gross motor skill like sitting up straight will affect a fine motor skill like holding a utensil or handwriting.
Gross motor skills include:
Core strength
Posture
Joint stabilization
Breathing
Hand-eye coordination
Walking, running, jumping
Fine motor skills include:
Grasping
Utensils use
Buttoning, zippering
Handwriting, scissor cutting
The muscles in the face and tongue that use for talking
Just as bones are connected, small and big muscles are connected and layered; they affect each other. So, a weak back muscle that affects posture is connected to the arm and hand, impacting writing.
Signs of poor gross motor skill:
Clumsiness
Low muscle strength
Difficulty sitting still on a chair, slouched posture
W sitting (sitting on the knees with the feet on the sides of the body)
Difficulty with jumping or fear of jumping
Difficulty with standing on one leg
Difficulty with doing stairs, riding bike
Prefers to be sedentary. Less active.
W sitting.
Signs of poor fine motor skill:
Poor handwriting and scissor cutting
Difficulty with utensil use
Difficulty with holding pencil or utensils correctly
Difficulty with buttoning or zippering
Typical difficulties for children working on handwriting.
Fine motor: Hand weakness, poor finger coordination and dexterity
Gross motor: Overall muscle weakness or “floppy” appearance, poor balance, motor planning and control, hand-eye coordination.
Neurodivergent people often have difficulty with their motor skills and developmental delay.
When working on motor skills, we have to start with gross motor. The “big muscle” skills always affect the fine motor skills. The majority of the time, people who struggle with FM skill struggle with GM skill too.
In addition, GM activities are very important for our sensory regulation. GM activities can help to increase our proprioception (body awareness) and vestibulation (balance).
GM activities will help to increase a kid’s…
Balance
Sitting tolerance on a chair
Attention span
Hand-eye coordination
Handwriting, scissor cutting
Ability to follow directions
Examples of GM activities for kids:
Catch and throw
Monkey bar
Bubbles
Swimming
“Children who master coordination and balance can climb and walk confidently.”
Ella Wu, OTD, OTR/L
Doctor of Occupational Therapy
Comments