Fine Motor Skill Development in Young Children: History
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Krisztián Józsa
,
Tun Zaw Oo
,
Diana Borbélyová
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Gabriella Zentai

Fine motor skills (FMS) are fundamental for children’s growth, influencing their writing progress and everyday activities. Children's FMS are also assessed in their school readiness assessment, DIFER (Diagnostic System for Assessing Development) which is a widely used and standardized school readiness test in Hungary and some European countries. However, the development of these skills is a multifaceted process that is affected by various factors. Consequently, it becomes essential to comprehend the disparities in children’s fine motor skills (FMS) development and the predictive factors. 

  • fine motor skills
  • predictive factors
  • young children
  • gender
  • age

1. Theoretical Perspectives on Fine Motor Skills Development

Fine motor skills (FMS) are essential for performing precise movements, often involving smaller muscle groups, such as those required for writing, drawing, and manipulating objects with precision [1][2]. The development of FMS is a crucial aspect of childhood development and is influenced by various theoretical perspectives. According to Jean Piaget’s theory, children go through different stages of development [2]. FMS are closely tied to cognitive development, and as children progress through Piaget’s stages, they gain the ability to control their motor functions more effectively [3]. For instance, as they develop object permanence and mental/cognitive representations, their FMS also improve [4]. On the other hand, Lev Vygotsky’s theory emphasizes the role of social interactions and cultural influences in motor development. According to Vygotsky, FMS are seen as being shaped by social interactions, particularly through the guidance of more skilled individuals (e.g., parents, teachers) [5][6]. For example, students’ problem-solving by their FMS is highly dependent on their parental involvement [5]. Furthermore, according to Functionalism, having greater FMS may lead to greater engagement in graphomotor activities such as drawing or writing [1]. In the dynamic systems theory, it proposes that the development of FMS is a result of multiple interacting factors, including the nervous system, biomechanics, environment, and task constraints [7]. Therefore, it is crucial to take into account these theoretical perspectives when con- ducting a cross-cultural study focused on the development of FMS among young children.

2. Fine Motor Skills Development in Young Children

Motor skills hold a fundamental role in shaping an active lifestyle that endures throughout a person’s life [8]. These skills are commonly categorized into subtypes: gross motor skills (GMS) and fine motor skills (FMS). GMS involves significant body movements, such as those executed by the arms and legs [9]. On the other hand, FMS refers to the precision and coordination of hand and finger movements finger [10]. The definition of FMS varies depending on the context. For example, some researchers describe it as the mastery of small muscle movements, which demand close coordination between the eyes and hands [1]. Others define it as the ability to control arm movements with manual dexterity [11], or as the proficiency to manipulate individual fingers for visuomotor tasks [12]. Nevertheless, all these definitions converge on the idea that FMS involves adeptly maneuvering the small muscles in the hands and fingers.
Telford and colleagues [13] propose that preschools and childcare centers offer an excellent opportunity to focus on improving motor skills development. With the increasing enrollment of children in these centers and the crucial influence of early childhood on cultivating healthy lifestyle habits, they represent an ideal setting to promote FMS development in children. If preschool children experience difficulties with FMS, it may lead to potential challenges later on. Research by Katagiri et al. [14] suggests that such difficulties can manifest not only as peer problems, emotional symptoms, and conduct issues throughout elementary school, but also as lower academic achievement beyond this stage. Several studies [15][16] emphasize that FMS should not be underestimated in their significance. These difficulties can have various effects, even among children, resulting in disruptions in academic performance, independence, and social skills. There are different kinds of fine motor tasks to be assessed and used by different
researchers. For example, Gashaj et al. [17] employed the test manual of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC-2), which includes two main tasks; (1) speed testing (threading beads and posting coins), and (2) precision testing (drawing a trail). FMS assessment (precision by drawing) was also tested in the Hungarian school readiness assessment by DIFER (Diagnostic Systems for Developmental Assessment) test [18]. Furthermore, at age five, students’ FMS were evaluated in the study [19], using three drawing tasks such as design copying, human figure drawing, and profile drawing. The copying task entailed reproducing eight fundamental designs. Additionally, a cross-cultural study conducted by Pitchford and Outhwaite [20] demonstrated that touch screen tablet measures can effectively evaluate children’s FMS. Hence, understanding the significance of FMS development in young children and exploring effective methods to assess this development have become paramount. Additionally, it is crucial to consider the various factors that influence children’s progress in FMS.

3. Fine Motor Skills Assessment as an Aspect of School Readiness Assessment, Diagnostic Systems for Developmental Assessment

FMS is essential for assessing children's development. Therefore, FMS assessment is employed as one part of the DIFER school readiness test in Hungary. The DIFER test aims to assess the progress of fundamental abilities in children aged 4–8 and to delineate the benchmarks for enhancing their acquisition [21][22]. These abilities are described below:

• Fine-tuned co-ordination between writing and motion, a prerequisite for writing instruction (fine motor skills);
• Effective speech perception and auditory skills, a fundamental requirement for successful reading instruction (phoneme perception skills);
• Foundational vocabulary knowledge, essential for proficient verbal communication (reading comprehension);
• Fundamental arithmetic capabilities (pre-mathematics skills);                                                                                                                                                                                              • Deduction based on experiential learning (deductive reasoning skills);
• Comprehension of relationships based on experimental learning, both pivotal for cognitive advancement (relational reasoning skills);
• Cultivation of social aptitudes, pivotal for school life and personality development (social skills).

Fine motor skills refer to the abilities to adeptly hold, grip, and control diverse objects. The progression of fine motor skills involves the synchronization of small muscles, particularly those within the hands and fingers [12]. Phoneme perception is quite important for the reading acquisition of preschool and young elementary school children. Their phoneme perception depends on their awareness of the segmental nature of spoken language and the ability to manipulate its constituent parts [23]. Teaching school-age children the skill of reading comprehension is pivotal, as it acts as a method of transferring knowledge that gains greater significance as they progress through their academic years and into the future. Reading comprehension is an interactive process consisting of two main aspects: the ability to directly understand the text and the ability to draw conclusions (including two types of conclusions—cohesive conclusions and information-based conclusions) [24]. The pre-mathematics skills in DIFER are a combination of five different sub-skills of children such as counting-up, counting-down, manipulative counting, object counting, and number reading [21]. Reasoning skills are quite important for young children’s academic education and future lives. Their deductive reasoning involves using known principles to establish the placement of a new object or entity within a sequence; it involves drawing a conclusion based on facts that are already known as true. And for relational reasoning, this refers to employing known relationships to deduce connections between new entities; it involves utilizing an understanding of equivalent patterns or relational comparisons to make sense of a novel pattern [25]. Finally, with regard to social skills, this encompasses the capacity to form successful and favorable interactions with peers, which are linked to a smoother transition into formal school environments and sustained academic success throughout their educational journal [26][27]. Hence, it is evident that the readiness of children for school plays a crucial role in their academic/school achievement, highlighting the necessity to prioritize the evaluation of school readiness to ensure accurate assessment. The above information is to highlight the importance of fine motor skills in assessing children's school readiness assessment. 

4. Assessment of Fine Motor Skills Development

Assessing FMS accurately can be challenging due to their subjective nature, making it necessary to utilize direct, standardized, and normed assessments. A study [28] examining the influence of gender and socioeconomic status on the motor skills development of young children (aged 4–7 years) employed the Bruninks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency as a direct and standardized assessment tool. Through multivariate analysis of covariance, significant effects were observed for both gender and socioeconomic status. Notably, females exhibited superior performance in FMS, whereas boys outperformed girls in catch and dribble gross motor skills.
In another study [29] of FMS assessment by some tasks (spiral tracing, dot filling, and tweezers and beads), the finding showed that female students outperformed male students in tracing spiral tasks, but no significant difference was found in other tasks of FMS assessments. Bindman et al. [30] evaluated the FMS of children using the Early Screening Inventory-Revised (ESI-R). The assessment encompassed 11 items or tasks, such as constructing structures like towers, bridges, and gates using blocks, copying shapes with a pencil, and drawing a person from memory using a pencil and paper. One of the notable outcomes indicated a positive correlation between the level of parental support and children’s FMS. In a comparative study involving the UK and Malawi [20], researchers employed a touch screen tablet to evaluate the FMS of children in their early years of preschool. The assessment encompassed three primary measures: manual processing speed, manual coordination, and spatial processing. Despite significant socio-economic disparities between the two samples regarding their tablet usage, the study found that the assessment tool demonstrated consistent validity across both settings. One particular finding indicated that age exhibited a negative correlation with performance on the three tasks assessing the speed of response in FMS assessment for both groups of children.
Collaer et al. [31] employed the instrument ‘Purdue Pegboard’ to assess FMS in adolescents. The participants used both hands in a specific, alternating motor sequence to assemble simple, four-item objects involving pegs, collars, and washers (2 trials, 60 s each). This research highlighted a significant difference in FMS between male and female participants. Another study by Dinkel and Snyder [32] investigated FMS development in children aged six to nine months by observing activities such as reaching and object manipulation. The results revealed that females exhibited significantly higher scores for FMS than males, underscoring the importance of parental involvement in enhancing FMS. From the information presented earlier, it becomes evident that when evaluating students’ FMS, it is essential to consider various factors, including gender, age, and cross- country disparities, the impact of socio-economic factors, parental support, the reliability of assessment tools, and age-related trends in FMS assessment.

5. Predictive Factors on the Fine Motor Skills Development

To investigate the predictive factors on the FMS development of young children, Telford et al. [13] gave the 6-month physical literacy intervention on preschool children. The authors tested its effects on students’ gross and FMS development. Furthermore, they investigated the effects of background variables such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status on students’ FMS development. No significant effect was found by these background variables on students’ FMS assessment (coin posting). Furthermore, in one study about adolescents’ FMS development [33], it was found that students’ chronological age had no significant impact on their FMS development (assessed by the task of Finger Tipping). In this research, gender and socio-economic status were controlled. In Martzog and Suggate’s [34] study, the FMS development of preschool children (age range between 35 and 82 months) was also evaluated using the Movement-Assessment- Battery for Children (Movement ABC). Surprisingly, they found no significant correlation between the age of students and FMS. Then, the research of Craig and colleagues [35] delved into the relationship between motor skills and social communication abilities. They employed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2 (MABC-2) to assess children’s gross and FMS. The study revealed that children with poor social communication abilities faced difficulties in FMS development. This finding underscores the importance of children’s social interactions with peers, parents, or teachers in the context of FMS enhancement. In the research conducted by Bindman et al. [30], investigating the FMS development of preschool children, the study revealed that both the gender of the students and their age during the home visit were noteworthy factors in predicting the advancement of their FMS. However, contrary to expectations, maternal education did not show any significant impact on the children’s FMS development. Another survey study conducted by Mandic et al. [36] aimed to determine how the social status of the family impacts the development of lateralization, gross, and FMS in preschoolers. The participants were children entering the first grade of Elementary school, and the findings indicated that parental education level serves as an indicator of socio- economic status and is a predictor of motor skills, encompassing both fine and gross motor skills. Furthermore, in a different study conducted by de Oliveira and Jackson [37], teachers assessed the FMS of the selected children using a 3-point Likert scale, designed by the first author, to indicate the frequency of specific observed behaviors over the past two weeks (0 = never; 1 = sometimes; 2 = yes, usually; DK = do not know). The results highlighted the significance of parental involvement in enhancing problem-solving abilities through FMS. Similarly, Lin et al. [38] investigated the FMS development of Chinese students (aged 6–12 years) by analyzing drawing trajectories, kinematics, and kinetics. They utilized a force-sensitive tablet to perform straight lines and circles drawing tasks. Their study emphasized the need to consider predictive factors such as children’s grade level, the specific tasks assigned, schooling environment, and age while assessing FMS. In conclusion, FMS development is influenced by a complex interplay of factors, including specific contexts, social communication abilities, parental education or involvement, socio-economic status, and task-specific characteristics. While age and gender may not always be significant predictors, it is crucial to consider a holistic range of factors when evaluating and supporting FMS development in children.

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/educsci13090939

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