1 Stop Paediatric Services

30/04/2026

16/04/2026

Fine Motor Friday:
✏️ Handwriting Spotlight

Handwriting is an important skill children use every day at school. It supports learning, communication, and independence.

What skills are needed for handwriting?

✋ Hand strength: Strong hand muscles help children hold and control a pencil, as well as endure writing for a long time!

👀 Hand-eye coordination: Helps guide the pencil to form letters accurately.

🧠 Motor planning: Knowing how to start and form each letter.

📏 Visual perception: Understanding spacing, sizing, and staying on the line.

🤲 Postural control : A stable body helps the hands move with precision.

Ways to support handwriting at home:

✔️ Encourage drawing and colouring. Start with thicker pencils when young, and transition to thinner/regular pencils as they are becoming more confident.
✔️ Play with play dough or building toys
✔️ Use short, fun writing activities

All of these little building blocks help promote proper pencil grasps! Pencil Grasp when handwriting is also important to promote the best control and reduce fatigue. See our rough checklist for the development of your child's pencil grasp!

13/04/2026

School Holiday Fun – Cooking

Cooking and baking can support children in developing fine motor and sequencing skills while also encouraging them to explore and try new foods.

Any leftover easter chocolate???…….. Try this recipe as it is fun for all ages!

Little helpers can pour ingredients into the bowl, bigger helpers can help mix the melted chocolate into the mixture. Remember when there is food that needs heating or melting to have an adult to help!

It is an easy adaptable recipe to swap out ingredients with your favourite flavours! Add large marshmallows, mini marshmallows, snakes or dinosaur lollies and you could even use cocoa pops instead of rice bubbles for extra chocolate!

https://www.thecookingcollective.com.au/easter-rocky-road/

10/04/2026

Fine Motor Friday: The Benefits of Playdough!

Playdough isn’t just fun- it’s a powerful tool for developing important hand strength and manipulation skills in children!

Why we love playdough:

💪 Hand strength: Squeezing, rolling, and squishing playdough strengthens the small muscles in the hands needed for handwriting, cutting, and self-care tasks.

✋ Fine motor skills: Pinching, poking, and shaping dough helps develop finger control and coordination.

🤲 Bilateral coordination: Using both hands together (rolling, pulling, flattening) supports skills needed for tasks like dressing and using scissors.

👀 Hand-eye coordination: Kids practice controlling their hands to create shapes and objects.

🎨 Creativity and imagination: Children can explore, build, and create freely.

🧠 Sensory play: The soft, squishy texture provides calming sensory input for many children.

Try this at home:
Ask your child to roll small balls, make snakes, or hide beads or small toys inside the playdough for them to find.
If your child is younger, promote colour and colour recognition as you go!

Keep an eye out for next week: Handwriting Spotlight!

09/04/2026

Australian Physiotherapy Association is the peak body representing the interests of 34,000+ physiotherapists & their patients. See PD, resources & advocacy.

03/04/2026

Fine Motor Friday! Why LEGO is Great for Kids!

Playing with LEGO is more than just fun - it’s a powerful way to build important skills for everyday activities.

Benefits of LEGO play:

✋ Fine motor strength: Pushing and pulling bricks together strengthens small hand muscles needed for handwriting and self-care tasks.

👀 Hand-eye coordination: Children learn to carefully place pieces where they want them.

🧠 Problem solving: Figuring out how pieces fit together encourages planning and flexible thinking.

🤝 Bilateral coordination: Using both hands together helps develop coordination needed for tasks like cutting with scissors or buttoning clothes.

🎨 Creativity and imagination: Kids can build anything they dream up!

Try this at home:
Ask your child to build something using only their thumb and index finger to challenge their pincer grasp.

27/03/2026

Fine Motor Friday!

Did you know the developmental milestones of what shapes your child can draw give us good information on how they will go with key early writing such as letters of the alphabet and their name!

Here are some loose ages to keep an eye on:

By the following ages, could expect your child to be able to ROUGHLY copy a:
Straight line: 2 years
Horizontal line: 2 years 6 months
Circle: 2 years 9 months

By these ages you can expect your child to be able to more accurately copy:
Straight line: 2 years 10 months
Horizontal Line: 3 years
Circle: 3 years

By this these ages you can expect your child to generate these shapes on their own:
Cross: 4years 1 month
Diagonal line: 4 years 4 months
Square: 4 years 6 months
Diagonal Cross (x): 4 years 11 months
Triangle: 5 years.

Keep an eye out for next weeks Fine Motor Friday: Benefits of Lego!

25/03/2026

Hip Dysplasia clinic for early detection running this Thursday 10am
Phone 87255383 for more information.

24/03/2026