Purpose:
The aim of the study is to identify the changes in manual dexterity that occur in preschool children.

Methods:
The sample consisted of 79 healthy preschool children from Wroclaw, Poland. Manual dexterity was assessed twice: at the beginning of the school year and 9 months later at the end. The mean age of the group was 5.98 ± 0.45 years (initial assessment) and 6.86 ± 0.35 years (final assessment). Motor performance was evaluated with the Motorische Leistungsserie (MLS) test. Statistical analysis was carried out with ANOVA, and the percentage change of each parameter was calculated for the 9-month study period. Differences were considered significant at p < 0.05.

Results:
There was a 45% improvement in steadiness, which shows that the children were more able to hold their hands in a given position without shaking for a prolonged time. The children made significant progress in grasping and carrying small objects with fingers and placing them in sequential openings on the work surface of the test apparatus in a vertical line, performing better than adults in this regard. The results for the aiming subtest improved by over 20% in the children examined. The rate of tapping increased by almost 8%. Improvements in line tracing, however, were limited to the accuracy of performing the subtest.

Conclusions:
The results of the study reveal the need for longitudinal studies on this topic. Selected parameters of manual dexterity in preschool children improved from 4% to 45% over the course of the 9-month school year.