The relationship between fine motor skills and mental and speech development

One of the most important criteria for assessing a child’s development in preschool age is the development of fine motor skills.
Unfortunately, quite often the situation arises that parents find out about motor disorders only when they visit a speech therapist with complaints of speech problems. What is the connection between the ability to carry out small manipulations with fingers and the development of a lexical vocabulary, pronunciation of letters and construction of complex sentences? It turns out that it is the most direct one.

The center of the brain responsible for fine motor skills is located in close proximity to the speech area. Activation of the area in connection with some kind of manual activity stimulates it to get involved in the work.

This is such a simple relationship. In fact, this process has a significant impact on the child’s intellectual development and the formation of his speech.

What are fine motor skills responsible for?

The development of fine motor skills improves the functioning of higher mental functions:

attention;
thinking;
visual memory;
imagination;
spatial orientation;
coherent speech.

In practice, children with weak motor function have a lack of voluntary attention, memory, logical thinking, get tired quickly during classes, and have some kind of speech problems. It should also be noted that untrained fingers have poor use of a pencil and pen. This means that starting school will be burdened with additional difficulties.

Many prominent scientists have emphasized the fact that finger movements have a direct stimulating effect on the formation of the child’s central nervous system. It has been proven that the formation of active speech begins only after fine motor skills develop to a certain level.

Finger games for speech development

The essence of the finger motor skills lesson is to teach the child to use his fingers to depict some objects or living beings. In this case, all finger movements must be explained to the baby. This will help the child understand concepts such as “top”, “bottom”, “right”, “left”, etc. After the child learns how to do the exercises himself, you can try to act out scenes or short fairy tales, distributing the roles among yourself and your little actor (for example, a meeting between a hedgehog and a bunny in the forest). Here are some examples of such exercises.

Finger game\
. The index and middle fingers are straightened, the rest are clenched into a fist. Little man. “Run” with your index and middle fingers on the table.
Finger game\
. Clasp your hands, straighten the fingers of one hand and the thumb of the other. Cat. Connect the middle and ring fingers with the thumb, raise the index and little fingers up. Horned goat. The index and little fingers are straight, the thumb is on the bent ring and middle fingers. Butterfly. Cross your hands at the wrists and press your palms with the backs of your hands facing each other, fingers straight; palms with straight fingers make slight movements in the wrists - “butterfly flies.” Glasses. Fold the fingers of your right and left hands into rings and bring them to your eyes.

In addition to these examples, you yourself can come up with many interesting and entertaining exercises for your child to develop speech.

When to develop fine motor skills

Sukhomlinsky’s famous phrase that the origins of children’s abilities are at their fingertips is known to many. However, unfortunately, the childhood of modern children takes place in conditions that do not provide many incentives for improving the functioning of fine motor skills and physical activity in general.

Therefore, stimulation of fine motor skills should begin from a very early age. In Japan, for example, from the age of two, targeted training of the hands and fingers is carried out. And this is also fully consistent with the conclusion of scientists that it is at an early age that the child’s brain is “tuned” to mastering speech and the formation of higher mental functions. Special studies of children with speech disorders showed that in the vast majority of cases they also had deviations in motor development. Even in the absence of neurological symptoms, such children lag behind in both gross and fine motor skills. And if the first, as a rule, levels out by school age, then the insufficient development of the second remains noticeable even later.

The origins of children’s abilities and talents are at their fingertips V. A. Sukhomlinsky

In Russia, it has long been customary to teach children to play with their fingers from an early age. These were games such as “Ladushki”, “Magpie-white-sided”, etc. After washing, the baby’s hands were dried with a towel, as if massaging each finger individually. So all mothers know that children need to develop fine motor skills. But not everyone knows how to do it correctly, and what is fine motor skills in general and what features does it have? What activities, games and exercises should be done with children to develop motor skills?

Fine motor skills are a type of movement that involves small muscles. These movements are not an unconditioned reflex, like walking, running, jumping, and require special development. The term dexterity is often used to refer to the motor skills of the hands and fingers. The fine motor area includes a wide variety of movements, from simple gestures (such as grasping a toy) to very complex movements (such as writing and drawing).

It has been proven that fine finger work promotes speech development in children. Therefore, it is very important to develop fine motor skills in a child from a very early age. But just doing exercises will be boring for your baby - you need to turn them into interesting and useful games.

Fine motor skills have a very important feature. It is associated with the nervous system, vision, attention, memory and perception of the child. Scientists have also proven that the development of fine motor skills and speech development are very closely related. And this can be explained very simply. In the brain, the speech and motor centers are located very close to each other. Therefore, when the motor skills of the fingers are stimulated, the speech center begins to activate. That is why, for the timely development of a child’s speech, it is necessary to pay great attention to the development of fine motor skills. Fine motor skills directly affect manual dexterity, handwriting, which will be formed in the future, and the child’s reaction speed.

Fine motor skills develop from newborns. First, the baby examines his hands, then learns to control them. First, he takes objects with his entire palm, then only with two (thumb and index) fingers. Then the child is taught to hold a spoon, pencil, and brush correctly.

Based on the characteristics of the development of a child’s fine motor skills, his readiness to study in a school institution is subsequently judged. If everything is in order, then the child is prepared to learn to write, can think and reason logically, has good memory, concentration, attention and imagination, and coherent speech.

What happens when a child does finger gymnastics?

Performing exercises and rhythmic movements of the fingers inductively leads to excitation in the speech centers of the brain and a sharp increase in the coordinated activity of speech zones, which ultimately stimulates the development of speech.
Finger games create a favorable emotional background, develop the ability to imitate an adult, teach them to listen attentively and understand the meaning of speech, and increase the child’s speech activity.
The baby learns to concentrate his attention and distribute it correctly.
If a child performs exercises, accompanying them with short poetic lines, then his speech will become clearer, rhythmic, bright, and control over the movements performed will increase.
The child’s memory develops, as he learns to remember certain hand positions and sequences of movements (the bright drawing on the right page will help better memorization).
The baby develops imagination and fantasy. Having mastered all the exercises, he will be able to “tell” entire stories with his hands.
As a result of mastering all the exercises, the hands and fingers will gain strength, good mobility and flexibility, and this will make it easier to master the skill of writing in the future.

How to do exercises to develop fine motor skills?

At first, all exercises are performed slowly. It is necessary to ensure that the child correctly reproduces and maintains the position of the hand or fingers and correctly switches from one movement to another. If necessary, you need to help the baby or teach him to help himself with his second hand.

Exercises are practiced first with one hand (if the participation of both hands is not provided), then with the other hand, and then with both hands at the same time. If the exercise is shown in a picture, then to create a visual image, you need to show the child the picture and explain how the exercise is performed. Gradually, the need for explanations disappears.

When developing hand motor skills, we must not forget that the child has two hands. The exercises must be duplicated: performed with both the right hand and the left. By developing the right hand, we stimulate the development of the left hemisphere of the brain. Conversely, by developing the left hand, we stimulate the development of the right hemisphere.

Finger training should begin from early childhood. Children who have better developed small, subtle hand movements have a more developed brain, especially those parts of it that are responsible for speech. In other words, the better developed the baby’s fingers are, the easier it will be for him to master speech.

It is important to note the following: if a child collects the same puzzles and pyramids day after day, these actions no longer require motor planning, they become skills, and therefore do not contribute to the child’s speech development.

Therefore, to develop children’s speech, it makes sense to use gymnastics complexes, finger games and activities that require conscious motor planning from children. Performing unusual actions on a signal is especially effective. An example of such a useful exercise is completing an obstacle course, when you first need to walk along a path, then crawl through a tunnel, then jump from bump to bump, etc. Or finger gymnastics, when a child performs certain actions to the words of a rhythmic rhyme. We will talk about how to develop fine motor skills in children in the next article, “Our fingers play.”

Of course, the development of fine motor skills is not the only factor contributing to speech development. If a child has perfectly developed motor skills, but no one talks to him, then the baby’s speech will not be sufficiently developed. That is, it is necessary to develop the child’s speech in a comprehensive manner: communicate a lot and actively both in everyday life and in kindergarten, challenging him to talk, stimulating him with questions, requests, it is necessary to read books to him, talk about everything that surrounds him.

The “City of Beautiful Speech” project is being implemented with subsidies from the social project competition “The City is Us!”

Norms for the development of fine motor skills

In order to understand whether your child’s fine motor skills are okay, no special tests are required. The doctor will pay attention to the ability to perform manual actions, in some cases he may ask to perform some tests (draw, shade, etc.). However, this applies to preschoolers, and how not to miss time at an earlier age?

In principle, the lag in the development of manual motor skills is clearly visible in the acquired (or not) self-care skills. This is the ability to tie shoelaces, fasten buttons, etc. On the other hand, a large selection of types of children's clothing that “simplify” the work of hands can mislead you. The presence of Velcro and zippers prevents some skills from showing. Just in case, we draw your attention to some average standards for the formation of motor skills:

From 2-3 months, the child reaches out with his hands to objects that interest him, to his parents, and grabs with his fingers first himself, and then those around him. This is the first acquaintance with your own motor skills.
From 3 months to six months, the ability to grasp an object with one’s hand is demonstrated.
At the age of one year, a child can transfer objects from hand to hand and place one in another. In addition, during this period the so-called “tweezer grip” should be formed - the ability to grasp a small object with two fingers.
Around the age of 1 year, children begin to perform actions with objects, imitating adults.
At one and a half years or a little later, the “artist” is born in them - the child manages to draw the first doodles that delight the parents. At this age, children know how to turn book pages, hold a pencil, and a spoon.
At the age of 2, he mastered the ability to string rings from a pyramid onto a rod, unscrew the lids, and place one cube on top of another.
By the age of 3, children are able to draw with their fingers or a pencil, and reproduce simple shapes and dashes according to instructions.
At 3-4 years old, a child is already a quite skilled “creator” - he can handle children’s scissors, a brush and plasticine, trace the outline of a drawing or build a tower from a significant number of cubes.
At the age of 5, a child can color pictures, draw a schematic house, a man, and similar “pictures.” Can copy printed letters and numbers based on a model. In terms of everyday skills, they master lacing shoes and fastening buttons.
At the age of 6, children are quite capable of writing letters and numbers; preparation for schooling is in full swing. Various types of hatching, tracing along a dotted contour, depicting geometric shapes, neat cutting with scissors and creating appliqués are mastered.

The connection between speech and fine motor skills in children

Consultation with a psychologist for the teaching staff: “The connection between speech and fine motor skills of the hands”
Author: Anna Yuryevna Vanyeva, educational psychologist at MBDOU No. 35, Kovrov. Description: I bring to your attention a consultation for teachers of preschool educational institutions. It describes the influence of training fine motor skills of the hands on the development of speech in preschool children, and provides games for the development of fine motor skills of the hands. This material will be useful for educators, educational psychologists in educational institutions, as well as for parents of preschool children. The goal of the work is to increase the psychological and pedagogical competence of the teaching staff. Speech is the leading means of communication, during which a person’s self-knowledge of his own “I” occurs and the possibility of self-expression and self-realization appears. Not only the intellectual development of the child, but also the formation of his character, emotional and personal sphere depends on the level of speech development. Mastering the native language is one of the most important acquisitions of a child in preschool childhood. Therefore, the process of speech development is considered in modern preschool education as the general basis for raising and educating children. A child is born with a ready-made speech apparatus, but does not have the skill to use it. Thus, speech is not an innate ability; it is formed gradually, under the influence of the social environment. Its emergence and development is determined by the need for communication. Speech is primarily the result of coordinated activity of many areas of the brain. The so-called articular organs only carry out orders coming from the brain. Therefore, for the normal development of speech, it is necessary that the cerebral cortex reaches a certain maturity and the child’s senses are sufficiently developed. The development of speech-motor and speech-auditory analyzers is especially important for speech formation. Scientists studying the activity of the children's brain and the psyche of children note the great stimulating importance of the hand function in the development of speech. Employees of the Institute of Physiology of Children and Adolescents of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences have established that the level of speech development of children is directly dependent on the degree of development of fine motor skills of the hands (M.M. Koltsova). If the development of finger movements corresponds to age, then speech development is within normal limits. If the development of fine motor skills lags behind, then speech development is also delayed. This is due to the fact that speech areas are formed under the influence of impulses coming from the fingers. In addition, in the cerebral cortex, the speech center is located very close to the motor center (one is part of the other). Therefore, the development of speech and fine (as well as general) motor skills occurs “in parallel.” Thus, in order to teach a baby to speak, it is necessary not only to train his articulatory apparatus, but also to develop his fine motor skills. Improving fine motor skills leads to improved speech. This fact should be used in work with children where speech development occurs in a timely manner, and especially where there is a delay in speech development. You need to start working on developing fine motor skills from a very early age. The sooner you start working with fingers, the sooner you will hear your child’s first words. An infant can no longer just bend and straighten his fingers, but lightly massage them (massage the hand and each phalanx of the finger), clench his fists, stroke his palms (“cook” porridge on his palm), let him grab and hold a rattle (every day for 2- 3 minutes). Thus, there is an impact on active points associated with the cerebral cortex. It is better to turn these activities into an entertaining game. By the age of one to one and a half years , it is important that as many fingers as possible are involved in the game and that these movements are quite energetic. Therefore, children are given active exercises for their fingers, with good amplitude (“Fingers say hello”, waving a hand - “Bye, bye”). In the process of developing fine motor skills of the hands, it is useful to use folk nursery rhymes (“Horned Goat”, “White-sided Magpie”, “Ladushki”). Since the “word-finger” connection contributes to the development of not only fine motor skills, but also speech. And folk songs and nursery rhymes, due to their melodiousness and melody, develop a child’s sense of language. By saying this or that rhyme (nursery nursery rhyme) out loud during finger games, we thereby achieve an emotional response from the baby, which means we develop his interest in this activity. Children of this age can be asked to roll wooden balls of various diameters (walnut, pine cone, pencil) in their hands, collect pyramids, move pencils or buttons from one pile to another, fasten buttons, tie and untie knots, lacing. By the age of 3, children already have ideas about objects and their characteristics. Therefore, when working with them, you can use traditional forms of work to develop fine motor skills: finger gymnastics (hand theater, shadow theater, finger games), drawing, stringing beads, assembling pyramids and mosaics, rolling foil balls, assembling construction sets, sculpting plasticine, lacing. You can also offer children the following tasks: recognize an object by touch, assemble and disassemble toys, open and close boxes, trace an object along the contour (stencil), tie a bow. If adults accompany the child’s actions with words, naming objects and talking about them, this enriches his vocabulary and develops coherent speech. With children of senior preschool age , in addition to traditional forms of work for the development of fine motor skills, they use: 1. games with mosaics and puzzles, 2. games with small objects (picking buttons, stringing beads), 3. assembling construction sets (pyramids, nesting dolls, Rubik's cubes) ), 4. working with paper (cutting paper figures, appliques), 5. drawing (outlining, shading, coloring, graphic dictation), 6. laying out drawings from counting sticks, 7. screwing in bolts and nuts, 8. playing with cereals (drawing on semolina, searching for a toy in the cereal, sorting the cereal).
By performing various finger exercises, the child achieves good development of fine motor skills, which not only has a beneficial effect on speech development (helps enrich his active vocabulary and develop coherent speech), but also prepares the child for school (for writing). In order to achieve the best result, it is necessary to comply with certain requirements for conducting finger games:

1) systematicity and consistency in carrying out exercises (transition from simple to complex). Tasks should become more difficult gradually; this is very important to maintain the child’s interest in classes; 2) exercises are selected taking into account the age and individual capabilities of children; 3) when performing various exercises, it is necessary to use all fingers of the hand, perform tasks with both the right and left hands; 4) classes must be conducted at the child’s request. It is unacceptable for a child to be overtired while playing; this can lead to negativism; 5) each exercise is played out (accompanied by emotional statements inviting the child to play with various objects) to attract the child’s attention. Children are happy to complete tasks that evoke an emotional response in them; 6) it is important for children that their work is appreciated. Therefore, after completing the task, admire the child’s handicraft and praise him; 7) never scold your child if he fails to complete a task well. Don’t back down, work with him more and praise him for all his successes; Observe safety precautions when working with small, piercing and cutting objects.
Thus, by doing finger exercises with a child in a playful way, we influence not only the development of fine motor skills of the hands, but also contribute to the development of his speech.
GAMES FOR DEVELOPING FINE MOTOR SKILLS OF HANDS AND SPEECH
1. “Multi-colored snowflakes” Age – from 4 years. Goal: development of fine motor skills of the hands, formation of accuracy. Materials: white paper, scissors, paints, brushes, colored pencils. Progress of the game: An adult shows the child how to make snowflakes from sheets of paper by cutting them. After the children make many different snowflakes, he says that the snowflakes turned out, although different, but of the same color. Then the paint friends came and gave the snowflakes colorful dresses. Children need to color the snowflakes. Children of older preschool age can be asked to imagine where the snowflakes will go in an updated form, and what they will do. 2. “Repeat the movement” Age – from 3 years. Goal: development of fine motor skills and attentiveness. Progress of the game: An adult shows the children some “figure” made up of the fingers of the hand (some fingers are bent, some are straightened - any combination). Children must repeat this “figure”. Children of senior preschool age can compete to see who can repeat the “figure” best. The winner shows the others his own figure, and the rest repeat after him. 3. “We draw” Age – from 3 years. Goal: development of fine motor skills of the hands. Materials: cereal, tray, cards with simple pictures. How to play: Take a bright tray. Sprinkle any small grains (millet, semolina) over it in a thin, even layer. Run your baby's finger over the rump. You will get a bright contrasting line. Let your child draw a few chaotic lines himself. Then try to draw some objects together (fence, rain, waves), letters or numbers. For children of older preschool age, you can prepare cards with simple drawings (ball, star, flag, sun, square). Invite your child to choose one of the cards at random, and then, using cereal, draw what is depicted on it. 4. “Magic Buttons” Age – from 3 years. Goal: development of fine motor skills of the hands. Materials: various buttons, thick thread. How to play: Choose buttons of different colors and sizes. Option No. 1: An adult lays out a drawing, then ask the child to do the same on his own. After the child learns to complete the task without your help, invite him to come up with his own versions of the drawings. You can use a button mosaic to make a sun, a tumbler, a snowman, balls, beads, etc. Option #2: Invite your child to make a necklace out of beads. To do this, you need to take a thick thread and string various buttons on it. 5. “Cinderella” Age – from 3 years. Goal: development of fine motor skills of the hands. Materials: cereals, dried fruits and legumes, containers for them. How to play: Mix cereals, dried fruits and legumes. We invite the child to sort each type into different bottles or containers. 6. “Find the prize” Age – from 3 years. Goal: development of fine motor skills of the hands. Materials: cereals, dried fruits and legumes, containers for them. Progress of the game: a container with sand or cereal, several Kinder Surprise toys, other small toys, candy wrappers. Option No. 1: Invite the child to put his hand in a container with sand (cereals) and find a toy in it. Ask him to determine by touch what kind of toy it is. Option No. 2: To play, you need bright candy wrappers. The prepared items must be wrapped in candy wrappers, after which one of them is unwrapped in front of the child, showing the surprise. The baby’s task is to unwrap the remaining “candy” and carefully fold the candy wrappers.

We recommend watching:

Organization of play activities in a mixed-age group Walks and observations during the summer in kindergarten Organization of play activities in a mixed-age group Parental competence