Motor skills: Motor skills refer to the body’s ability to manage the process of moving. To execute motor skills, a person’s brain, muscles, and nervous system must all work together. A person’s motor coordination is determined by how well he or she is able to perform the desired function when employing these motor skills.
Motor skills is a broad term that refers to the development of muscle movement in the body. The development of motor skills helps your child’s cognitive development and helps him or she explore the world.
The importance of motor skills:
Motor skills are important for development. Everything infants do involves motor skills- postural, locomotor, and manual actions; exploratory actions; social interactions; and actions with artifacts. Put another way, all behavior is motor behavior, and thus motor skill acquisition is synonymous with behavioral development. Age norms for basic motor skills provide useful diagnostics for “typical” development, but cultural differences in child-rearing practices influence skill onset ages. Whenever they emerge, motor skills lay the foundation for development by opening up new opportunities for learning. Postural control brings new parts of the environment into view and into reach; locomotion makes the larger world accessible; manual skills promote new forms of interactions with objects, and motor skills involving every part of the body enhance opportunities for social interaction. Thus, motor skills can instigate a cascade of developments in domains far afield from motor behavior – perception and cognition, language and communication, emotional expression and regulation, physical growth and health, and so on. Finally, motor skill acquisition makes behavior increasingly functional and flexible. Infants learn to tailor behavior to variations in their body and environment and to discover or construct new means to achieve their goals.
The Role Of Motor Skills Development In Education:
Motor skills are the basic movements that underlie all physical games and activities. An understanding of how to improve students’ basic motor skills can enhance the quality of a physical education program. Walking, running, stretching, bending, catching, and throwing are all motor skills. They are the building blocks of all games and activities in a physical education class, sports, and daily life. Enhancing the quality of students’ motor skills can enhance the quality of the activities in a physical education program and the daily lives of students
What are motor skills in child development?
Children develop 2 types of motor (movement) skills: ‘fine’ motor skills and ‘gross’ motor skills. Fine motor skills involve using hands and fingers to control smaller objects. ‘Gross’ motor skillsinvolve the coordination of larger muscles in the body to make larger movements.
Fine motor skills:
Involve using hands and fingers to control smaller objects. Here are some examples of fine motor skills: The following activities you may apply to all age groups in pre-schoolers & schoolers.
Holding a pen or pencil motor skills:
Drawing pictures and writing neatly.
Using keyboard drawing, painting, erasing, drawing shapes.
Using scissors, rulers, and other tools.
Children also need fine motor skills to do daily tasks like getting dressed and brushing their teeth.
People use fine motors skills to do many schools-and work-related tasks, buttoning, unbuttoning, trying on shoes, tying laces, getting dressed with belts, buttons, zippers, and snaps, using silverware while eating, opening and closing latches.
Locks and key matching activities
Seed sorting, cereal sorting, pulses, seeds.
Screwing lids
plucking flowers
Transferring petals of a flower to another tray.
Color matching
Sorting and grading boxes according to their sizes.
Coin activities ( Put in and out)
Catching worms
Water transfer using a spoon to another spoon
Bottle filling( you can use color water, sand, beads, color stones) if it would be colorful it may be attracted by kids and can improve their interest.
You can use metal insets, puzzle pieces tracing, matching cards, stencils, and art activities.
Erasing pictures.
Knead the dough and roll
Making objects using clay soil
Thread large wooden beads on a string
All the above examples so different ways to develop and build fine motor skills in schools and at home.
Gross motor skills:
Involve the coordination of larger muscles in the body to make larger movements. such as:
walking, running, stretching, bending, catching, and throwing are all motor skills. They are the building blocks of all games and activities in a physical education class, sports, and daily life. Enhancing the quality of students’ motor skills can enhance the quality of the activities in a physical education program and the daily lives of students.
Gross motor skills are related to other abilities. Most people use these skills easily and automatically. Such as
Balance
Coordination
Body awareness
Physical strength
Reaction time.
Having poor gross motor skills can impact people in all areas of life. It can make it hard to do key tasks and school, work, and home. Difficulty with motor skills can also take a toll on self-esteem. Here are some examples such as
Using a trampoline is a great activity to improve balance. …
Hopping and jumping require strong gross motor skills, balance, and coordination. …
Martial arts classes.
Playground play.
Balloon and bubble play.
Tricycles, scooters, and pedal cars.
Dancing
climb up trees
Obstacle Courses (Obstacle courses get kids moving and give them a goal to accomplish. For an indoor course, use furniture, pillows, and blankets to create areas to crawl on, under, and through).
Hula-hoops to jump in and out
Jumping Jacks
Gardening & Planting
Belly crawling
Bear walking
Different sports items
Walk on lines
Balance beam
Skipping
Move like animals
Run up and Roll downhills
Throw and Paint Ribbon Art
Stroller Push & Collect Challenge
Frog Jump
Long Jump
Standing Broad Jump
Cricket Ball throw
High Jump
Red Light & Green Light
Roll, Squeeze, Twist
Baking With Real Dough
Get Dirty & Dig In The Mud
preschoolers & Schoolers
Ages 3–4 years
Alternate feet on the stairs
Jump with two feet
Put together a simple puzzle
Use door handles
Draw circles, squares, and very simple people
May ride a tricycle
Ages 5–6 years
Run, hop, skip, and jump
Perform basic dance moves
Throw and kick a ball, and catch it with two hands
Copy shapes and letters
Brush own teeth
Use spoons and forks the right way
May start to a musical instrument
Ages 7–8 years
Ride a bike without training wheels
Show sports skills like catching a small ball
Do chores like sweeping or making the bed
Tie shoes and button and zip independently
Ages 9–10 years
Coordinate movements like dribbling and shooting a basketball
Let them use tools and draw shapes
There are plenty of easy ways to strengthen these muscles, practice coordination, and develop hand and eye coordination using simple, everyday materials and a bit of creative fun!
Other activities we have loved have included exploring sensory play materials, transporting small parts, threading beads, hands-on art projects, cutting and sticking, tearing and scrunching papers, opening and closing fastenings, and countless others. Here is a selection of some of those favorites, all of which can be adapted for different age groups and abilities.
