Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

LaVonne Fox

Keywords

Child Development -- handbooks; Handwriting; Motor Skills -- handbooks

Abstract

Children spend 60% of their day completing fine motor activities (Feder, 2007; Mackay, 2010). Therefore, it is essential that young children be exposed to a variety of fine motor activities in school and home settings to promote fine motor development. Often times parents are willing to help their children develop these skills, however, they do not feel they have the resources to do this.

The Occupational Therapy Handbook for Parents (OTHP) was designed by an occupational therapist to provide consistent parent education regarding children's fine motor skills. A literature review was completed to define typical fine motor development, best practices in handwriting instruction, and best practices in developing parent education materials.

The OTHP includes definitions of typical fine motor development, a variety of activities for parents to complete at home, and occupational therapy resources. The OTHP will ideally lead to increased fine motor exposure in the home. This will provide children with stronger fine motor skills in the classroom as well as increased success with handwriting and classroom activities.

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