Developmental
Milestones of the Hand
Just as a child goes
through developmental milestones for gross motor skills, a similar
progression of developmental skills occurs in the hand. In
preparation for writing the hand should go through the following
motor milestones:
-
Development
of arches in hand: This is the concave surface of the palm that allows
it to shape itself around objects.
-
Development
of wrist extension that supports skilled finger movements. Try picking
up a penny with your wrist fully flexed and you can feel the importance
of extending your wrist for finger use.
-
Development
of an awareness of the “skill” side of the hand: This is
using the thumb, index and middle fingers for manipulating fine motor
items. (The other side of the hand provides stability and strength.)
-
Development
of an open index finger-thumb web space: I explain this to children by
saying they need to make an “O” with their thumb and index
fingers. Then I watch to make sure that they do the activities
successfully by keeping all of these joints flexed. If the
“O” collapses, they didn’t do it right. If a child is
unable to maintain this position it may be due to poor muscles strength.
-
Development
of skill in the small muscles contained in the hand. These movements
are best developed in activities that use the thumb, index and middle
fingers such as threading a small bead (Myers, 1992).
Reference
Myers, C.
(1992)
Therapeutic Fine-Motor Activities for Preschoolers. In J. Case-Smith
and C.. Pehoski (Eds.), Development of Hand Skills in the Child.
Rockville, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. 47-59.
Exerted from Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers by
Carrie Lippincott, OTR/L