Gross motor skills
Gross motor skills are to do with large muscle groups; including the coordination and movement of arms, legs and other large body parts. Developing gross motor skills happens over time, by using different muscle groups.
Rolling over, crawling, standing and walking will come with time.
Very young babies have little control over their bodies, and so they will rely on you for support to move safely and comfortably. By encouraging your child to learn how to move their body through tummy time, you are supporting them in building strength and getting mobile.
You can encourage your child to use their developing motor skills as they learn and grow by playing and moving together. For older children, obstacle courses requiring different physical movement and balance are a great way to develop and strengthen skills.
As your child grows, they will become interested in different activities, but there are many ways to support your child’s motor skill development at each age.
Why are gross motor skills important?
Gross motor skills are important to enable children to perform every day functions, such as walking and running, playground skills (e.g. climbing) and sporting skills (e.g. catching, throwing and hitting a ball with a bat). However, these are crucial for everyday self care skills like dressing (where you need to be able to stand on one leg to put your leg into a pant leg without falling over) and climbing into and out of a car or even getting into and out of bed.
Gross motor abilities also have an influence on other everyday functions. For example, a child’s ability to maintain appropriate table top posture (upper body support) will affect their ability to participate in fine motor skills (e.g. writing, drawing and cutting) and sitting upright to attend to class instruction, which then impacts on their academic learning. Gross motor skills impact on your endurance to cope with a full day of school (sitting upright at a desk, moving between classrooms, carrying your heavy school bag). They also impacts your ability to navigate your environment (e.g. walking around classroom items such as a desk, up a sloped playground hill or to get on and off a moving escalator). Without fair gross motor skills, a child will struggle with many day to day tasks such as a eating, packing away their toys, and getting onto and off the toilet or potty.
List of gross motor skills activities
- Painting and creating broad strokes with a paintbrush promote gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
- General play – running, skipping, hopping and jumping.
- Bouncing, rolling, throwing, kicking and batting a ball.
- Balancing on tiptoes, a log or a tightrope stretched out on the floor.
- Climbing in safe environments in playgrounds with adult supervision.
- Keeping a balloon up in the air by hitting it with their head or hands.
- Splashing about in water strengthens leg muscles (always supervise water play).
- Dancing, walking and skipping to music improves coordination and balance.
- Learning to ride on wheels such as a tricycle or scooter.
- Using their body weight to swing and gain momentum.
- Playing hopscotch helps to develop your child’s ability to jump.
- Simon Says improves visual cues, body awareness and the ability to plan and carry out moves.
- Bouncing on a trampoline or an inflatable gym like a castle improves coordination and fitness.
- Fun obstacle courses either inside the house or in the backyard encourage your child to explore different surfaces and move through or around barriers.
- Chasing bubbles can provide heaps of fun while moving little legs and stretching arms.
- Hula-hoops encourage children to move their torsos.
- Skipping ropes provide ample fun for jumping, skipping and foot-eye coordination.
For more information please visit https://childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/gross-motor-skills/