The Happy Helper

At the teachers-parents meeting recently, one of Tara's teachers told us that we should let Tara do some paper tearing at home, in order to hone her fine motor skills. She said children her age don't know how to tear a piece of paper properly. They will pull and tug the paper with all the strength they have but the paper will still be intact. And Tara, especially her, the impatient one, will get really frustrated when she failed to do the simple task.

I was thinking, tearing paper, very difficult mah?

So on Saturday, after I have printed out many photos from my trusty Canon Selphy, I passed the whole stack of it to let the little one do some proper tearing (of the side borders). I taught her how to fold and tear the sides off. And from there, I can really see that the little one really can't fold or tear properly. I guess folding was a bit too much for her (and for my photos), so I folded the sides and passed the stack to her to tear.

It took her about 10 photos to finally grasp the "technique". Of course, the perforation that I've folded down helps too. And so, she sat beside me at our study table, tore out the borders carefully, threw them into the bin beside her, and placed the photo carefully onto the "completed" stack. I had the chance to work on my long pending scrap project while she was at it. It was a rather blissful moment spent with her sitting beside me and doing her "own" things. She was happy with the little task I gave her and was more than willing to help me out. For once, she actually hear Mummy asking if she want to help out, instead of the usual bellowing at not to touch my scrap stuff.






Towards the end of the stack, she was tearing the sides like a pro! Now I'm looking to more tasks that she can help me with, which can also to keep her entertained at the same time. How good is that?