Nursery World - Physical Development

Fine motor skills are apparently declining in school-leavers, so instilling them in the early years is vital, says Caroline Vollans

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It would seem that knitting is popular again. Fashionable cafés host knitting groups, courses are widely available and the clicking of needles can be heard in the trendier pubs. This re-emergence of an activity dependent on the use of fine motor skills will be welcomed by certain professors across the country.

A professor of surgical education stated in a BBC report (October 2018) that many students have lost their dexterity for stitching and, consequently, for sewing up their patients. Professor Roger Kneebone of Imperial College London says many young people have had such limited experience of learning craft skills that they struggle with the practical aspects essential to work. These medical students who excel academically cannot cut and sew.

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