It’s helpful to understand the different ways in which our bodies learn and develop.
Behavior
Gross motor skills
It’s helpful to understand the different ways in which our bodies learn and develop.
Medical and developmental professionals talk about gross motor skills regarding physical development.
Education resources
What are gross motor skills?
These fundamental physical skills describe the large, intentional movements that involve moving the large groups of muscles in the legs, arms, and torso.
What do people use gross motor skills for?
People use gross motor skills to carry out a variety of functional movements. These movements are used to carry out daily activities at home, school, work, and everyday life.
What are some examples of these skills?
Some of the whole-body movements that we think of when describing gross motor skills are:
- Walking
- Running
- Jumping
- Hopping
- Any athletic movement, such as performing a handstand or swinging from a bar
- Dancing
- Activities that require full body movements, such as gardening, sports, or dance.
When people experience difficulties with gross motor skills, such as for disability reasons, they may have difficulty delivering full-body movements such as hopping, jumping, or running.
What are the key things to know about gross motor skills?
These skills require the body to successfully link the neurological and muscular systems to carry out large, coordinated movements that often require balance and control, especially if they are performed upright (such as running or skipping.)
Gross motor skills also influence fine motor skills, which are the small movements we perform in everyday life, such as writing with a pen or unscrewing the lid of a tin.
How can we identify gross motor skills?
There are so many different movements that the body performs. So how do we know that we are talking about gross motor skills? Here are some indicators:
- The movement involves the whole body
- The movement involves the largest muscle groups in the body, such as the legs, arms, or torso
- The movement coordinates the muscular and neurological systems to create coordination and balance.
Links with other abilities
Because most of us can access and use our gross motor skills automatically and without conscious thought, they may seem simple. But these fundamental movement skills are complex and require time to learn. This is why babies and small children develop their full range of gross motor skills over time.
These skills also link to other kinds of physical ability, including:
- Coordination – to perform a series of linked movements, such as walking, which is complex to learn and takes time (if you witness a baby learning to walk, this becomes clear!)
- Balance – again, this is a complex dynamic that the body learns over time.
- Body awareness, also called proprioception, describes the body’s position and the individual’s awareness of what their body is doing.
- Physical strength can be developed through muscular development.
- Reaction time involves honing the link between neurological triggers and physical responses.
What is the impact of poor gross motor skills?
People who suffer from poor gross motor skills will feel the impact across their lives. People who struggle to develop gross motor skills fully can struggle to carry out daily tasks at home and work. These can take a toll on individual self-esteem over time.
Different conditions or underlying factors can cause delays in gross motor skills. One of the main reasons is dyspraxia, which is a developmental coordination disorder (DCD) that is very common in younger children. DCD impacts gross motor skills, planning, and fine motor skills, but it can be improved via occupational therapy. This may be carried out in schools or privately.
When do they develop?
Our gross motor skills begin to develop when we are infants. Even as babies, we rapidly learn to roll and move from a young age. These skills continue to develop throughout childhood, although children will all develop at different paces and achieve key milestones at different times. Some examples of gross motor skills development in childhood are:
- The ability to jump with two feet tends to develop at ages 3-4
- The ability to ride a bike and catch a small ball tends to develop at 7-8.
As children develop through their tweens and teenage years, they will continue to develop their gross motor skills and hit different key milestones.
What to do if a child is struggling to develop their gross motor skills?
The first step for parents is to speak with their primary healthcare provider. Schools will often offer an evaluation. If your child is evaluated and found to have additional needs, he or she may be offered occupational therapy through the school. This is often free of charge.
Parents and carers can also help to build their children’s motor skills outside of school with activities that encourage development. Where these activities are fun, children are often keen to engage with them without focusing on the developmental aspect. Some good ideas for developing gross motor skills in all young children include the games and activities below:
1. Trampolines
Trampolines are sensory experiences and physical experiences that develop balance and coordination. Whether you use a mini trampoline at home in the garden or take your child to a fun indoor trampoline park, your child will experience a range of sensory and development inputs that will help them to grow different skills.
2. Dancing
Dance builds strength, coordination, control, and balance and can also be a lot of fun. Children can easily express themselves through dance and often build social friendships if they dance in a group or class.
3. Hopscotch
This classic game requires jumping and hopping and builds foundational gross motor skills, coordination, control, and balance. It’s also a fun way to develop number skills and requires more than outdoor chalk, painter’s tape, and a hallway!
4. Martial Arts
Martial arts classes develop a wide range of skills, from strength, balance, proprioception, and control. It also develops discipline and the ability to listen and follow instructions. For children that have additional needs, such as ADHD, martial arts have been shown to offer additional developmental benefits, as well as a sense of community.
5. Playground games
Most playgrounds have various play activities and zones to encourage children to work on different skills while having fun. For example, children can build balance by swinging, coordinating their limbs on climbing frames, and building strength on rope ladders. Many playground games and activities offer full-body strengthening benefits.
6. Bubble play
Bubble play is ideal for smaller children as it is a simple and fun way to encourage little ones to zig-zag, run, jump, and roll as they blow bubbles and try to catch them. It requires minimal kit and a soft outdoor area like a patch of grass or a beach. This outdoor activity also offers additional benefits, such as unstable natural flooring surfaces to build muscles in the feet and legs and develop coordination, control, muscular sequencing, and balance.
In conclusion
Gross motor skills are the foundational full-body movements we use to carry out everyday activities. They are also a precursor to fine motor skills. People develop gross motor skills from infancy but develop at different rates. Where children have delays in their gross motor skill development, approaches such as occupational therapy and physical games can help them progress.
