Readiness for Motor Skills

Readiness for Motor Skills Motor skills are developed in different stages for various children. It is essential that each child learns the major movement activities in order to have a life-long appreciation of fitness. During early childhood, there should be an opportunity to work on walking, balancing, throwing, and catching. Children should have trial and error experiences as well as beginning drills and the integration of skills in specific sport games. Skills are learned by body through mind learning. Emphasis should be on imitation and games that cause children to assume proper movement patterns. Proper form must be shown through fun games and activities. If a child has not mastered a motor skill considered basic for his age, there must be some remediation in that area. Children should have an opportunity to systematically develop basic movement and perception skills. When the child arrives into intermediate elementary grades, there should be more emphasis on structured games and sports. In elementary grades, the fundamental skills are developed and there should be less focus on the specialization of skills until they reach the teens. If a child has the opportunity to learn motor skills in small sections step-by-step, it will ensure that they will have success in the future.

 Developing Gross and Fine Motor Skills in Early Childhood

 

This is a series about fine and gross motor skills in early childhood.  Children of all ability levels should have structured and unstructured experiences in motor skills.  Early intervention and involvement of parent/school can develop positive experiences which can help students develop at a normal rate.    This month is part one on what is motor skills.

 

First, what are motor skills?  They are the large and small movements of the body such as lifting, pushing, pulling, and carrying.  The body must effectively use mind/body connection and spatial awareness of their surroundings to the muscles and bones to develop fine and gross motor skills.

 

Frequent teaching, reteaching and imitation is important to a student has difficulty mastering motor skills.    Body movement of large and small muscles and rhythm songs help in teaching motor skills.  Teaching direction such as up, down, clock and counter-clock wise help develop motor planning.  These skills are important in developing both gross and fine motor skills.

 

Gross Motor Skills for Early Childhood Development

 Today is part two of the series on Motor Skills. Gross Motor Skills are the first motor movements in early childhood. They are the large movements of the body using the arms, legs, torso and feet.  Sitting, catching, kicking, galloping, crawling, walking, running, jumping, are considered gross motor skills. 

 

There are many activities that can develop gross motor skills.  Balancing on beams, standing on dots, crawling and climbing develop coordination,  control, laterality, and synchronize the right and left body sides.   Other activities consist of students crawling, going over and under objects during relays and obstacles courses.

 

  Hopping helps control body and balance.  Students can hop around objects such a low boxes and cones, dots or stepping stones.    Jumping develops overall gross motor skills  and coordination.  Students can also jump over objects, string, a line or beanbags.  Students can kick balls, balloons of various sizes.

 

Running and walking are other great gross motor skills and can be done around an obstacle course or in a relay such as in and out of dots, hoops, tires, or lines.   Skipping around objects in organized games teach direction and can be done to music with a variety of rhythms.  Other gross motor movements include twisting, turning and bending.   Gross motor skills prepare students for sports participation that can last a lifetime.

 

Fine Motor Skills for Early Childhood

 

 Today is the third and final segment of the Motor Movement Series. Fine Motor Movements use the small muscles of the eyes, fingers, toes, wrists, lips and tongue. The small muscles work with both the large muscles to develop movement.  They are often for used communication purposes, both functional and expressive, such as writing or typing text, manipulating tools or creating works of art. There is coordination of the eyes and hand, foot and eyes, and dexterity of each of the fingers to write, draw and type.  Tactile and space awareness is also developed with fine motor practice.  

 

Some activities used to teach writing include writing letters or numbers in sand, pudding,  or shaving cream.  Q-tips or cosmetic sponges  with water writing on the chalkboard reinforce correct formation of text using water to erase letters. Toothbrushes on dry erase boards manipulate practice with  downward and circular brushing movements erasing previously correct formed letters, numbers or words.  Dry and wet pasta, beans and rice, other paper mediums, glitter, teach writing with correct placement on paper or cardboard.  

 

Skills to encourage fine motor skills include rolling dough or putty into balls, or hiding objects inside the mixture. Tearing paper,  cutting on pre-made lines and patterns teaches forming correct size and shape . Linking materials such as Legos, Unifix Cubes, lacing and stringing activities encourage hand-eye coordination and color patterning.  Using pegs, stickers, and flipping cards teach placement of objects. 

 

 Cooking not only teaches  fine motor but also life and math skills such as   measuring with various types of materials, mixing, stirring and blending using different parts of the hands.  Fine motor skills are important to integrate with multiple tasks such as brushing your teeth and combing your hair.  Combining two or more fine motor skills is important in developing normally. Self-care skills are also important in  developing fine motor abilities  such as buttoning, lacing, fastening snaps in clothes, using simple tools, opening and closing drawers, jars and doors and cleaning the house including washing, and cleaning.  These skills are necessary for life.

 

References:

Ask the Experts

What’s the difference between fine and gross motor skills?

http://www.babycenter.com/expert/baby/babydevelopment/6562.html

Developing Fine Motor Skills

http://members.tripod.com/~imaware/fmotor.html

Is my child normal?

http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutyourkids/child/normal/physical_development.html#fine_motor_development

Shirley’s Preschool Fine Motor Skills

http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/fine-motor-skills.html

Shirley’s Preschool Gross Motor Skills

http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/gross-motor-skills.html

Smith, Jodene Lynn. Activities for Fine Motor Development. Winchester, CA: Teacher Created Resources, 2005.

 

Smith, Jodene Lynn. Activities for Gross Motor Development.Winchester, CA: Teacher Created Resources, 2005.

 

What are gross motor skills?

http://www.getreadyforschool.com/preschool/preschool_activity.html