Jj is for Jottings 165.  Motor Skills and Screen Time in Preschoolers.

We will now look at the topic of motor skills and screen time in preschoolers in some detail.  In Creativity in Children, Part 1 I noted a deterioration in young children’s fine motor skills over the last few years.  I suggested that creative activities involving fine motor skills may have been partly or completely replaced by screen time. It is not just fine motor skills which suffer from replacement by screen time, but gross motor skills as well.

WHAT ARE MOTOR SKILLS?

Just so we are quite clear, a motor skill is a function that involves specific movements of the body’s muscles to perform a certain task.  There are two types of motor skills: gross motor and fine motor.  Gross motor skills involve using the large muscles in the body to make large movements.  Examples are walking, jumping, running.

Fine motor skills involve using your hands, fingers and wrists to control small objects, such as writing, drawing, using scissors, zipping up a zip, turning a doorknob, etc.  That is the general definition.  However, it leaves out the fine motor skills involved in speaking.  Think of the fine movements made by your tongue, in particular.  Poor fine motor skills in this area lead to slurred, unclear speech.

For the purposes of this article, fine motor skills will refer to the hands/fingers/wrist fine motor skills.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND SCREEN TIME IN PRESCHOOLERS.

A recent study investigated the relationship between screen media usage and fine motor skill development. Fine motor skills are crucial for learning and development, and the fine motor skill of handwriting actually boosts brain power.  In fact, learning involves movement in general.  A parent questionnaire was used to gauge time spent on various media platforms.  It differentiated between newer media forms like gaming devices, smartphones, tablets and PCs versus traditional television viewing.

Following data analysis, the researchers determined the following:

• Higher media usage led to decreased fine motor skills over time.
• The study found that newer media usage (see above) was associated with decreased fine motor skill development, compared with television. (Could this be partly explained by some children doing other activities such as playing with blocks at the same time as watching television?)
• They found that children with better fine motor skills used fewer media when reviewed a year later.
• The results support earlier research indicating negative associations between media usage and fine motor skills.
• While newer media requires some fine motor actions (like using a joystick or touchscreen), the range of movement is limited.  This may not be enough to support comprehensive fine motor skill development.
•  It’s possible that media usage might replace other essential learning activities that help in fine motor skill development.  Personally, I think that is abundantly clear (see opening paragraph), but that’s what the researchers said.
• The study suggests that newer media might interfere with 3-dimensional spatial mapping, but this requires further research.

PAST RESEARCH ON GROSS MOTOR SKILLS AND SCREEN TIME.

Older studies have provided evidence of possible negative impacts of screen time on gross motor skills:

• A 2013 study found that children exposed to television for longer durations at 29 months exhibited weaker gross motor skills by age 5.
• High media usage was also linked with reduced gross motor skills in preschoolers in a 2020 study.
• Even in 2012 there were studies of screen time.  Overall, excessive screen time leads to poorer gross motor skills and decreased physical activity among preschool children.

Ask any preschool teacher and they will tell you the same thing.  Spending time on a screen robs children of time for developing motor skills.  This means time playing outside (mainly gross motor) or engaging in craft, drawing, puzzles etc. (fine motor).

WHAT CAN WE DO TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION?

For a start, we need to manage children’s screen time.  That’s an entire article on this very topic.  And here is another relevant article, on the impact of televisions in children’s bedrooms.

Bear in mind that children with poor motor skills, gross or fine, tend to avoid the very activities they need to improve these skills.  Parents may need to be a bit creative about finding activities which the children like and which will also develop the necessary skills. Sometimes just the fact that a parent is engaging in the activity with the child will be enough to motivate them.

In the next article we will cover suggestions for both gross and fine motor activities, providing both fun and skill development for your preschoolers.

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