This article is the fourth in this term’s series on Fine Motor Skills. It explores the art of bead threading and the myriad of benefits children gain from this activity including the development of finger dexterity.
The three previous fine motor skills articles have explored: What Fine Motors Skills Are and Why They Are Important; Pencil Grip and Teaching Lower Case Letters and Sounds; and Games That Assist In Fine Motor Skill Development. This article looks at how grasping and threading beads can strengthen the small muscles in children’s hands. This assists in the development of accurate pincher grip to select a single desired bead and thread it. It is this pincher grip that allows children to develop the hand motion necessary to grip a pencil to colour in or write.
Although various hand movements are required to create a bead chain the most commonly used is the pincher grip. This is the action of picking up an item between the thumb and forefinger. Children will also need to reach for a bead, pick it up and then rotate it to be able to thread it onto the thread, plastic or metal being used.