Why is developing fine motor skills so important for children entering kindergarten?

Fine motor skills involve all the tiny muscles in your hands that control your hands, fingers and thumbs. The development of these muscles play an important role for many tasks that children will need to do while at school.

These tasks consist of feeding themselves, zipping their coats, doing up and undoing buttons, picking up and playing with toys and materials, writing, drawing, colouring, cutting, and more. When children have control over these muscles and build their strength, they can preform the above tasks more independently, and this increases their confidence and self-esteem.

Below are some examples of activities that children can do to increase their strength and dexterity.