A child's gross motor ability involves the use of the large muscles of their body and enables a child to perform major body movements, such as, crawling, walking, jumping, hopping, etc.
Generally, a child's gross motor skills will develop before their fine motor skills. They eventually use these skills together to perform a variety of activities.
Integral to the development of a child's gross motor skills is a stable "core". Core muscles can be considered "as the sturdy central link in the chain connecting your upper and lower body". Core muscles describe both the muscles which assist with stability as well as those which enable trunk movement.
Important aspects of gross motor skill development include:-
You will find further explanations and lots of activity suggestions for the development of gross motor skills below.
Generally, a child's gross motor skills will develop before their fine motor skills. They eventually use these skills together to perform a variety of activities.
Integral to the development of a child's gross motor skills is a stable "core". Core muscles can be considered "as the sturdy central link in the chain connecting your upper and lower body". Core muscles describe both the muscles which assist with stability as well as those which enable trunk movement.
Important aspects of gross motor skill development include:-
- core muscle strength
- balance,
- bilateral coordination,
- body awareness,
- eye-hand coordination,
- eye-foot coordination,
- muscle tone and strength, and
- postural control.
You will find further explanations and lots of activity suggestions for the development of gross motor skills below.