Fine motor skills in the digital age: The role of graphic expression in an exploratory study

Abstract

The development of digital technologies has profoundly transformed daily habits, involving preschool and primary school students, who increasingly use digital tools for activities such as writing and drawing. As a result of this change, there is a growing weakening of skills which were considered normal in child development until a few decades ago, such as fine motor coordination. The sample consists of 60 children aged between 5 and 11 who have attended a summer camp. The purpose of the study is to assess the levels of fine motor skills related to the graphic representation of drawing within the context of playful and recreational physical activities typical of informal learning environments. The method involved the administration of the Hand to Shape Test, analyzing 3 specific areas: Space, Grapho-motor Organization and Motor Quality. The results showed that 87% of the sample was overall adequate, in the space area 65% were inadequate. From the statistical analysis of Pearson's correlation, it emerged that the correlation coefficient between age and motor quality score is r = 0.580244, while the value of r between time and overall score is -0.0176. The study results confirm that a good percentage of children maintain adequate physical skills. However, several critical issues relate to low values, such as visuo-spatial skills, motor quality and posture, emerged, indicating evident deficiencies in fine motor skills.