Developing Motor Skills
Over the years, I’ve worked with pre-teens, and I have come to observe a few of them struggle with simple activities, which shouldn’t pose a challenge to them. Then I realized that their gross and fine motor skills were not developed early.
Early childhood development includes acquiring fine and gross motor skills. While both these skills involve movement, they do have differences.
So what are these skills?
Fine motor skills involve the movement of the smaller muscle group in children’s hands, fingers, and wrists while Gross motor skills involve the movement of the larger muscle group like the arms and legs. It’s these larger muscle groups that allow babies to sit up, turn over, crawl, and ultimately walk.
Both types of motor skills enable children to become more independent.
Fine motor skills are especially important because the ability to use the smaller muscles in the hand allows children to perform self-care tasks without assistance.
To help your child develop his/her gross and fine motor skills, there are activities you can schedule to build them developmentally. This is why schools have Early Years sections. Believe me, they are not ‘playing’, like most people think. Serious learning is taking place. A child’s development begins here.
Babies and toddlers develop fine and gross motor skills at their own pace. Some children develop some skills earlier than others and that’s perfectly normal. Children usually begin to attain these skills as early as one ore two months old and continue to learn additional skills through preschool and primary school.
According to early childhood development experts, the most important fine motor skills children need to develop include the following:
· The Palmar Arches which allows the palms to curl inwards. Strengthening these helps coordinate the movement of the fingers, which is needed for writing, unbuttoning clothes, and gripping.
· Wrist stability develops by early school years. It allows children to move their fingers with strength and control.
· Skilled side of the hand is the index finger, and other fingers together for precision grasping
· Bilateral hand skills permit the coordination of both hands at the same time
· Scissor skill develops by age four and teaches hand strength and eye coordination.
It looked like past generations are tough and sturdy because of the activities they did growing up. Activities such as climbing trees, playing ten-ten, suwe (hopscotch), Ludo, rolling tires, cooking with flowers, playing with clay, catapulting, and even football. It didn’t seem like it but we were learning as we played. However, with the advent of the Internet, most kids today are stuck indoors, sitting for hours playing Fortnite or Tik Toking. Nothing wrong with these but access to the technology should be limited for children in growing years. Let children play, they learn in the process, thereby developing themselves.
For materials to help your child develop motor skills check Coco Resources @co2resources
