What are the graphomotor difficulties of a preschool child?
A preschool child learns not only how to cooperate in a group, but also acquires a number of new skills and competences. One of them are graphomotor skills and those related to the development of fine motor skills. It turns out that the kindergarten is a place that has a very strong influence on the child in this respect. It is also a time when, thanks to the teacher’s observation, one can spot various irregularities and start working on them intensively.
It turns out that younger children, 3 and 4-year-olds, do not have developed incorrect habits yet. Therefore, working with such toddlers is very efficient, and the effects of parents ‘and educators’ activities are visible much faster than, for example, in the case of school children. It is also largely due to neuroplasticity. This means that such a child’s nervous system works faster and allows them to learn new skills effectively.
But what should worry us about the child’s development and what should we pay attention to in our daily work? There are several behaviors that should give us food for thought. These include:
- Decreased mobility;
- Difficulty mastering self-service skills;
- Incorrect grip of a writing tool;
- Reluctance to draw;
- Speech problems;
- Delayed or incorrect development of laterality;
- Difficulty remembering lyrics, poems;
- Poor orientation in the body schema;
- Poor games;
- Inappropriate social development;
- Disturbance in concentration
All these difficulties require increased observation on the part of the teacher as well as systematic talks with parents and establishing a common action plan. Sometimes it is also necessary to carry out a specialist diagnosis in a psychological and pedagogical clinic and to check how the child’s sensory integration develops. It is also advisable to meet a physiotherapist to determine the shape of the child’s muscle tone.
It is also possible to introduce a variety of games and activities (both at home and in kindergarten) that will support the development of fine motor skills and graphomotorics. Those are:
1) Finger games;
2) Construction games;
3) Art and music-movement games;
4) Strengthening and stabilizing muscle tone:
- Obstacle course / tracking: Child must lie on his/her stomach and use his/her elbows to move forward. Crawling under tables, chairs, or through a homemade obstacle course is a good incentive;
- “rock” – the child takes the correct position at the table, and the therapist asks him/her to act like a rock. So she/he places Her/his hands on Her/his shoulders, shoulder blades and hips and tries to push him/her off the chair or move him/her the other way. The child is to hold the position.
- “who is stronger?” the child sits at a table with his/her feet set on the mat. The therapist tries to remove the mat from under the baby’s feet;
- “tree” – the child has an elastic band hooked on its head and crossed under the buttocks. At the therapist’s slogan “grow”, the child tries to lengthen the torso.
Therefore, it is worth supporting the child’s development from an early age and ensuring that all difficulties or irregularities are noticed early. Our teaching staff systematically pay attention to these issues and try to support parents in caring for their child’s development.