---
title: What are fine motor skills?
description: "Fine motor skills are abilities that involve the small muscles in our hands and wrists. Learn more about fine motor skills.\n"
slug: all-about-fine-motor-skills
author: Gail Belsky
reviewer: Keri Wilmot
published: '2019-08-05T16:00:07.401Z'
thumbnail: https://cdn-images.understood.org/p0qf7j048i0q/2VxQZu8igiIO9WwHsoYuMz/57f2a83d03718061d4ca4d1e3cedcd60/G1216562034.png
source_url: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-fine-motor-skills
lang: en
---

# What are fine motor skills?

Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using the small muscles in our hands and wrists. We rely on these skills to do key tasks in school, at work, and in everyday life.

These small movements come so naturally to most people that we usually don’t think about them. But fine motor skills are complex. They involve a coordinated effort between the brain and muscles. They’re built on the [gross motor skills](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-gross-motor-skills) that let us make bigger movements, like running or jumping.

Here are some examples of when we use fine motor skills:

- Holding a pen or pencil
- Drawing pictures and writing neatly
- Using a keyboard
- Using scissors, rulers, and other tools

People also need fine motor skills to do daily tasks like getting dressed and brushing their teeth.

---

<!-- structured-data -->
```json
[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-fine-motor-skills#webpage","url":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-fine-motor-skills","description":"Fine motor skills are abilities that involve the small muscles in our hands and wrists. Learn more about fine motor skills.\n"},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-fine-motor-skills","name":"What are fine motor skills?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","datePublished":"2019-08-05T16:00:07.401Z","description":"Fine motor skills are abilities that involve the small muscles in our hands and wrists. Learn more about fine motor skills.\n","headline":"What are fine motor skills?","url":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/all-about-fine-motor-skills","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.understood.org/#organization","name":"Understood for All Inc","logo":"https://cdn-images.understood.org/p0qf7j048i0q/307jFAYQevghG8nQMCjh89/ccdbbec895765824db43f6d30b496e83/logo_lockup_navy.jpg"}}]
```