Whether your children are busy running and tumbling across the yard, or completely engrossed building a tower out of blocks, their little bodies are working hard to develop motor skills and coordination through play. Motor skills can be divided into two main categories; gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Let’s examine each type separately.
Gross motor skills begin development as an infant and are often marked as a child’s firsts; the first time she rolled over, sat up on her own or took her first step. Gross motor skills require the use of muscles all over the body to work in unison to achieve whole body movement. Gross motor skills are further developed and refined through active play. That’s why it’s so important to encourage your child to get out into the sunshine and run, jump or climb to their heart’s content.
Children will never run out of ways to rearrange play sets that comes with bricks, balance beams, hoops and more. Your child will put his motor skills to the test, increasing his coordination and developing the foundation for sports skills.
Fine motor skills focus on the use of the muscles in the hands and fingers to perform more intricate tasks, such as holding spoons, turning pages, and later, tying shoes. Parents can encourage their child to develop motor skills of this type with hands on toys that require greater focus such as musical instruments and building blocks.
Pre-schoolers can begin to develop fine motor skills with a Developmental Play Cube. Your child can practice hand-eye coordination with zippers, buttons, velcro, laces, bow ties and more with this vinyl covered soft cube. The fine motor skills learned here prepare your child for Kindergarten and beyond.
As you can see, providing your child with a variety of opportunities for creative play aids in the development of all their motor skills. And while they may look like they are just having a good time, they are really preparing to enter the greater world around them.
