Lead
When a three-year-old picks up scissors and the paper won't cooperate — the hand not quite doing what the eye intends — a parent might wonder whether the child is unusually clumsy. When a same-age child at a playgroup is folding paper neatly, the worry sharpens into something closer to comparison.
Fine motor skills are less visible in the public conversation about development than gross motor milestones. The reference points — when does a tripod grasp consolidate? when should scissors work? what does a craft project tell us about developmental readiness? — are less clearly communicated to parents. This article draws on occupational therapy research and developmental evidence to set out what is known, including the spans of typical individual variation.