 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Today on the blog, I would like to introduce Tanja from Empowered Parents. Tanja is an early childhood educator. We recently collaborated on an article "Awesome Activity Ideas for Parents of Preschoolers". Make sure you check out the article! Today Tanja shares with us 7 gross motor skills your preschoolers should master! What are gross motor skills and why are they so important for your child to master? As a teacher in the early childhood classroom, movement was one of the most important activities in my daily routine, for good reason. Gross motor refers to the coordination of the arms, legs and other large body parts when moving. It involves skills such as balance, strength, muscle tone, agility, attention span, body stability, postural control, eye-hand and eye-foot coordination, as well as an understanding of position in space. Babies start developing their gross motor control when they learn movements such as lifting their head, turning, holding onto structures and eventually walking. Control develops from the head down and from the body outwards to the limbs. Later, children start developing their fine – or small – muscles, which are needed to be able to hold a pencil or button a shirt. During the toddler and preschool years, building these skills is crucial as children need good motor control to be able to function and learn optimally when they start formal schooling. Here are a few examples of how motor skills are needed for learning and functioning:
Read this interesting article on how children need motor skills to stabilize their page when writing. As parents, it is important to know what the basic skills are that your child should master and how you can go about helping to develop them during the early years. 7 Types of Gross Motor Skills There are two main divisions of motor skills – locomotor and object control. Locomotor refers to movements such as running, jumping and swimming. Object control refers to movements such as throwing, kicking and catching, which involve objects or equipment. Below are 7 kinds of movement skills that your child should master by the time they start formal schooling. They will all be learnt during play. As long as you are providing lots of opportunities at home for your child to engage in different activities, they will learn these skills naturally. Make sure that over and above activities you plan, such as building a balancing beam to walk across, your child has lots of time for independent free play.  1. Walking and Running Children should be able to walk and run forwards, backwards and sideways. By playing games such as running and chasing games, children learn to understand the position of their bodies in space. This means they can move between spaces without knocking into others and they have an awareness of where things are in relation to themselves. They also develop the ability to stop suddenly, turn or change direction. 2. Ball Skills Playing with balls is one of the best activities you can do to develop a child’s eye-hand and eye-foot coordination. Encourage activities such as hitting, bouncing, throwing, catching, kicking and dribbling balls of all types and sizes. Beanbags are a great alternative for developing eye-hand coordination. 3. Balancing Activities Balance involves being able to perform simple actions like balancing on one leg for a few seconds, jumping on one leg or walking along a narrow beam, heel to toe. Play games or set challenges such as timing how long you can balance on one leg or building simple obstacle courses with beams or planks to walk across. 4. Rhythmic Activities Children need to learn to hear rhythm and beat, as well as coordinate their bodies to move with it. Simple activities such as marching to a beat or dancing to a piece of music will encourage rhythmic movement. Young children should have lots of opportunities to move freely to music and sound. As they get older, children should be able to follow a simple dance routine and may enjoy attending a dance class such as ballet.  5. Climbing and Strength Activities In order to develop their muscle and core strength, children can climb up jungle gyms, climbing frames or even better – trees! Other movements such as hanging from monkey bars, wrestling, lifting up, doing somersaults, pulling and pushing during play will also develop their muscle tone and strength. Swimming is an excellent activity for developing strength, agility and coordination. 6. Hopping, Skipping and Jumping Activities such as hopping, skipping and jumping help develop a child’s bilateral coordination. This means they are able to coordinate the two sides of their bodies, such as when alternating feet during skipping. Coordination is one of the most important skills because it will greatly impact a child’s ability to function at school. If the two sides of the body are not coordinated and the child is not able to cross his midline, he will struggle with reading and writing. Here are two examples of difficulties with crossing the midline:
7. Riding Learning to ride a toy motorbike or tricycle is great for developing gross motor skills such as core strength, balance, and bilateral coordination. Older children can be challenged to transition to a bicycle as their balance and coordination improves. There are many more skills and movements that children learn during the early years. These are the basic ones that parents can focus on to ensure their children have good physical development before staring school. All these skills can be learnt through simple, fun play activities. We often feel our preschoolers should be doing more “formal” activities to get them ready for school and are tempted to sit them down to learn to write or read when they are not yet ready. The best start you can give your child is to let them move and play as much as possible in the early years. This will ensure that when the time comes to learn to read and write they will have all the necessary gross and fine motor skills in place, and learning will be easy! Here are some ideas for fun games you can play at home with your children to develop their gross motor control. Please share your favourite movement ideas and games in the comments section with us!
Thanks Tanja for sharing how we can be encouraging gross motor skill development in our children. Do you have some great ideas for encouraging gross motor skills? Join in the fun in my monthly photo challenge on Instagram at Your Kids Therapy Ideas. Tag #therapyideas with your fun gross motor ideas to play along in November (2018)! Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. You may also like:
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. It is my pleasure to introduce fellow Sydney occupational therapist, Simone Ryan (Rocket OT) as my guest blogger today! Simone's area of interest (and passion) is self regulation. Simone has created the "REGULATION ROCKET" to help us (parents, teachers, OTs) to understand the development of self regulation and what may be contributing to dysregulation in our children. Thank you Simone for introducing us to the Regulation Rocket! When working or living with children and young adults, one of the most common areas that needs to be addressed is self regulation and it's development. Self regulation contributes to a number of outcomes including success in the school and workplace, development and sustainability of quality relationships, and successful engagement in occupations. It's an area of development that has been explored from a number of professionals including occupational therapists, educators, psychologists, sociologists and neuropsycholgists. This array of perspectives and approaches to self regulation development can be both overwhelming and confusing. After studying literature across a variety of areas, I realised the need to have something that "tied it all together". As a visual learner myself, I wanted to create a visual model that could be used to both increase and support understanding of self regulation development, and explore what areas may be contributing to dysregulation within a given occupation and environment. I gave myself the goal of developing something that:
And so the Regulation Rocket was born! The Regulation Rocket encourages parents, teachers, therapists or children/adolescents exploring their own regulation development to ask 3 questions:
OCCUPATION I like to start with the first question, where is it going? Having a destination (or goal) helps plot the route, figure out what supplies are needed and what changes may need to be made to get there. The model shows three planets that represent the countless occupations that an individual may engage in. Some things we want to do (such as our hobbies), some things we need to do (such as look after ourselves) and some things we are expected to do (such as work or go to school). An individual may be having difficulty reaching a particular planet, but be able to reach other planets with ease. Recognising that there may be a fair few planets in between where an individual can go and is attempting to go, can help build the parts of the Rocket needed to get there by grading the occupational demands. ENVIRONMENT Once we know where a Rocket is headed, it's important to look at where it's coming from? An environment needs to be supportive both in the construction and launching of a Rocket. In other words, we need to ensure the physical, cultural, and most importantly, social environment helps develop and support regulation. Of the social environment, an individual's co-regulators play the largest role in supporting regulation development. Addressing co-regulation as a factor has been found to be more often than not missing from interventions focusing on self regulation development. This is a pretty worrying finding, when many studies identify co-regulation as a major predictor of successful regulation development. A statistic the Regulation Rocket model is aiming to change! PERSONAL FACTORS Lastly, we look at the Rocket itself. We know where it's going, so we can figure out what it needs to get there. Sometimes an individual will be able to steer it themselves, other times they may need their co-pilot (or co-regulator) to help them. We may need to make changes to the environment in order to ensure certain parts of the Rocket are being built. Sometimes this means explicit teaching, but oftentimes it's about addressing the various personal factors throughout an individual's day or week in naturalistic settings. Factors will influence regulation differently depending on both the occupation and environmental demands. This is why some factors would be looked at more closely than others throughout an individual's development. The personal factors that contribute to regulation maintenance and development are:
 A question I often get asked about the Regulation Rocket is: "Can I use it with the programs I already do?". My answer is absolutely! However, I have often seen therapists using just one or two programs that they are familiar with/prefer when supporting self regulation development. My aim with The Regulation Rocket is to support therapists, parents and educators to use critical thinking when choosing a program, and understand that self regulation development is complex and not "one size fits all". Whilst using pre-existing programs, it's crucial to keep in mind all the factors presented in the Regulation Rocket model, as regulation is fluid and an individual's needs may change. Neglecting factors that are influencing an individual at a given point in time may actually reduce the success of a self regulation program. The Regulation Rocket can also be used to select a program, by highlighting what areas of the Rocket need the most support, depending on the environment and occupations attempting to be reached. A program can then be selected to address the areas identified as influencing an individual's regulation the most. For more information on the Regulation Rocket, please visit RocketOT.com. You can also follow Rocket OT on Facebook or subscribe to the blog to keep up with the lastest updates.
Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. You may also like:
Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.
Vuly has provided a Lift 2 Large Trampoline for the purposes of this giveaway. Your Kids OT has not received any remuneration for this article or giveaway. Vuly does not have an affiliate program. All opinions expressed in this article are that of Your Kids OT.
Trampolines have become a quintessential part of an Aussie backyard! Do you have one?
There are so many therapeutic benefits to trampolining. 1. Sensory benefits Trampolining provides proprioceptive and vestibular input and can help children to regulate their bodies. Proprioception is sometimes called "position sense" or "muscle sense" as information from receptors in our muscles and skin help to inform us of where are body parts are in space, how they relate to each other, how much and how quickly they are stretching, the speed and timing of movement as well as the mount of force exerted. Proprioception helps us to be aware of our bodies and directs our motor control and planning. The brain processes vestibular sensations received through the hair receptors in the inner ear and are stimulated by gravity. Vestibular input can be described as linear (up/down, forward/backward and side to side) as well as rotational (spinning around). These movements can be calming or stimulating. Trampolines are a great way for children to explore movement and their own bodies. A well regulated body means that a child's mind will be ready to learn! 2. Motor benefits A trampoline is a great way to work on balance, coordination, weight bearing, body awareness and bilateral coordination. Trampolining can also provide cardio-vascular and fitness benefits! 3. Social skills A trampoline is fun on your own but even more fun with friends and family. Children can practice turn taking and social skills; working out different ways to use the trampoline and be collaborative in play. 4. A boost of happiness! A child's mental health and happiness is so important and can affect every aspect of their lives. Trampolining enables children to feel weightlessness and bouncing can bring pure joy! 
GIVEAWAY TIME!
I am partnering with Vuly Trampolines to bring an incredible giveaway to an Australian reader. Vuly is an Australian manufacturer and supplier of world-class trampolines and swing sets. Vuly are now a registered NDIS approved supplier of trampolines. GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. WINNER: DANIELA MCCANN
Terms and Conditions
**1. The prize includes a Vuly Lift 2 Large Trampoline and delivery within Australia. Vuly will provide all costs associated with shipping the product to one address in an Australian territory. 2. Open to Australian residents only. 3. Entries close on October 27th, 2018 at 12am. 4. Winner will be announced at on Your Kids OT Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot/ after October 27th 2018. 5. Winner will be notified via email provided with entry. 6. Prize winner must inform Your Kids OT of their mailing address within 48 hours of being notified as the winning entry. 7. This is a game of skill, not a random draw. Your answer must be original or creative. The winner will be chosen from the original comments. 8. Your Kids OT and Vuly will not be held accountable for any injury sustained as a result of misuse or damage to the product.**
I'm looking forward to reading all your great entries!
Who wants a trampoline??? (.... perfect for Christmas which is not too far away!) Remember to share this giveaway with your friends and family! 
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Subscribe to the Your Kids OT Newsletter!Receive your FREE PRINTABLE as a thank you! This form collects information we will use to send you our newsletter with our latest posts, products and special offers.
Already subscribed? Don’t worry you won’t be added twice!  Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Your baby turns their head with their mouth open when the corner of their mouth is stroked or touched. They look like they are looking for food. (Rooting reflex). You touch the corner of you baby's mouth and they begin to suck to feed, suck on fingers, suck on a pacifier. (Sucking reflex). Your baby throws their head back, extends their limbs, cries and pulls their arms and legs back in again when they hear a loud sound or even their own cry. (Startle reflex). Your baby wraps their fingers around yours when you place it into the palm of their hand. (Palmar grasp reflex). These are some of the primitive reflexes that full-term babies demonstrate at or soon after birth. Primitive reflexes and their postural reactions are automatic brainstem-mediated movement patterns that start developing inutero and are usually integrated (and are harder to elicit) after 6 months of age. * After birth, a baby experiences the sensations and stimulation of the world. They begin to develop more coordinated movement and neurological control. This helps them to integrate the primitive reflexes and postural reactions to higher level motor patterns (such as crawling, walking, talking) and higher level learning and brain development. When primitive reflexes do not fully "integrate" they are also referred to as "retained". You can get a free copy of "Signs of Retained Primitive Reflexes" from Integrated Learning Strategies. ----> Take me to Signs of Retained Primitive Reflexes.  Primitive Reflexes and Brain development There is much evidence that can be found in medical, neurological and pediatric journals on primitive reflexes and brain development. Here are a few references from the great body of evidence.
Impact of Retained Primitive Reflexes There is a growing body of evidence connecting retained primitive reflexes with a variety of disorders including cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and learning difficulties. Here are a few of these references.
Efficacy of Movement Programs for Helping Those with Retained Primitive Reflexes. This is an emerging area of research which continues to grow. Here are a few of these references.
This is not an exhaustive literature review. Please let me know if you have further evidence.  )Want to find out more about primitive reflexes? Are you interested in testing if your child has retained primitive reflexes? Are you a therapist or teacher looking for training on this area of practice? Integrated Learning Strategies are offering a new e-Course to assist therapists and professionals with retained primitive reflexes.The e-Course offers a wealth of information that includes the following: * More than 40 videos of personal instruction, testing for the reflexes and exercises to integrate the reflexes * 85-page digital handbook with signs and symptoms of primitive reflexes, myths about primitive reflexes, testing and exercises * 7 charts and graphs that include parent observation sheets, exercise schedule, progress tracking sheets, learning and motor development checklists and much more * Private Facebook group where you can ask questions about testing or exercises, visit with other parents or OTs that have had similar experiences and receive additional instruction or training as needed AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME --------> SIGN UP FOR THE INTEGRATED LEARNING STRATEGIES E-COURSE E-Course and Handbook Registration (Current registration period Jun2 15 - June 26, 2020) There is a limited time to purchase the e-course but then you have 12 months to watch the videos. This course is available twice a year. I have personally completed this e-course in 2018 and highly recommend it. It takes about 3 hours to complete the whole course but you can start and stop when it suits you. It is very well presented and very comprehensive. The handbook is a wonderful resource to refer to during the course as well as to keep as a handy reference in the future. You can obtain a participation certificate by emailing the creators after you finish the course. Have you considered how to integrate primitive reflexes? Have you joined up to do the e-course? 
* Zafeiriou, D. I., MD, Phd. (2004). Primitive Reflexes and Postural Reactions in the Neurodevelopmental Examination. doi:10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2004.01.012
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AuthorHi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here. 
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Disclaimer: The information on this site is general in nature and should be used for educational and entertainment purposes. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. This blog does not replace formal therapeutic professional advice given by a health professional or medical practitioner. Reviews and endorsements of products will only be made based on my expertise and personal opinion; and deemed worthy of such endorsement. The opinions shared in sponsored content will always be my own and not that of the advertising company or brand. Content, advertising space or posts will be clearly identified if paid, affiliated or sponsored. Affiliate links may be found throughout this website in advertising. This means that if you follow through with a purchase from these links, Your Kids OT will receive a percentage of the sale. Your Kids OT undertakes to meet the requirements of the "Social Media Policy" as published by Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Further information about this policy can be found here.
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AuthorHi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here. 
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