Motor skills are foundational for a lifetime of movement. For children, they play a vital role not only in facilitating physical activity levels but also for cognitive and socio-emotional development and school readiness.
Motor skills are broadly separated into two groups: fine and gross motor skills. Fine motor skills are movements that use smaller muscles, specifically related to the hand, like grasping a pen. Gross motor skills are movements that use larger muscles, and these can be categorized into three main groups:
1) Locomotor skills, which include movement co-ordinated in a specific direction, to transport the body from one location to another (like walking, running, jumping, hopping);
2) Object control skills, or manipulative skills, which involve controlling, manipulating or moving objects with the body (like throwing, kicking, catching);
3) Stability skills, which entail maintaining balance of the body when still or in motion.
Motor development experts recommend that children should have adequate competency in motor skills by around the age of seven. This supports children’s full engagement in school, from developing fine motor skills for writing to physical activities that require more specialized skills. However, many young children are not achieving adequate motor skill proficiency by this age, with rates declining in the past few decades.
While adults recognize the importance of motor skills for children’s participation in everyday activities, there is evidence that many parents don’t feel knowledgeable about how to help their children develop these skills.
Some parents have reported perceiving that motor skills will develop naturally. But children develop motor skills through practice, and they require opportunities for this.
Informed by our work, and that of others, and in co-operation with early childhood educators, parents and children, we offer strategies and suggestions to support parents and educators in helping the young children in their care develop motor skills.
Sophie M Phillips, Post-Doctoral Associate, School of Occupational Therapy, Western University; Dan Jones, Lecturer in Public Health and Research Methods, Teesside University, and Trish Tucker, Professor and Director of the Child Health and Physical Activity Lab, Western University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Expert Insight reflects the perspective and scholarly interest of Western faculty members and is not an articulation of official university policy on issues being addressed.
Equipping adults with knowledge
Parents and early childhood educators serve as important role models for young children. There are numerous ways adults in children’s lives can help support motor skill development. Researchers have shown that parents taking part in motor skill practice through everyday activities and play alongside their children can improve children’s competence. This may include development of fine motor skills through activities like drawing, colouring or cooking together, or gross motor skills through activities like playing catch or kicking a ball back and forth. Given that many young children spend much of their week in child care, early childhood educators also play an important role in influencing children’s overall development, including their motor skills. The TEACH e-learning course (TEACH stands for Training EArly CHildhood educators in physical activity) has been shown to improve educators’ knowledge about physical activity opportunities for young children, as well as their confidence and plans to support this. Young children whose early childhood educators received training via the TEACH e-Learning course had significantly improved locomotor skills compared to children whose educators hadn’t received this training. This means ensuring early childhood educators are equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence to provide motor skill development opportunities for the children in their care is paramount to helping children acquire these competencies.Engaging in physical activity
Children acquire gross motor skills through physical activity. This can include providing opportunities for children to engage in physical activities of a moderate-to-vigorous intensity, like brisk walking, running, cycling and skipping. Active travel, involving walking, cycling or using a scooter as a method of transport, can provide opportunities for children to be physically active and develop their motor skills. Our analyses of data from children attending child care have shown that children spending more time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, relative to lower-intensity activity, demonstrate better overall gross motor skills and in particular, object control skills. Other approaches include children participating in sports, where they can practise their motor skills, for example by kicking a soccer or football.Active outdoor play
While interventions that directly target specific motor skills through structured activity have shown substantive benefits for motor skill development, active outdoor play is another way parents and educators can help children acquire motor skills. The outdoors is a perfect playground for children to develop motor skills. Trails and grassy or forestry areas provide naturally occurring, uneven ground where children can improve their stability and balance. The ample space allows children to run around and develop locomotor skills, while naturally occurring objects like bark and sticks can be used to enhance motor creativity by playing games such as building dens.Swap out screen time
Increased screen time reduces opportunities for the development of motor skills. Research links young children’s excessive screen time with negative effects on motor development both during early childhood and into later childhood. This includes a particular focus on manual dexterity (being able to co-ordinate hand and finger movements). Recent evidence suggests that while all screen use is associated with poorer fine motor skill development, newer media like smartphones and tablets are linked to worse outcomes than traditional media such as TV viewing.Creative, motor-enhancing activities
Manipulative play (building blocks, bead threading), arts and crafts (cutting with scissors, colouring and drawing) and tactile play (using playdough or clay) can have benefits for children’s fine motor skills and object control. These forms of play, like children’s free play, are also enriching for other aspects of development. Everyday activities such as helping with preparing and cooking food, using cutlery at mealtimes, as well as buttoning or zipping clothes, can improve key skills. Reducing screen time and replacing screen-based activities with something physically active or other beneficial sedentary activities can help children develop object control and finer motor skills. This said, understanding that we live in a digital world, the Canadian Paediatric Society has provided guidance about how screen time can be intentionally used.Moving bodies for happy and healthy lives
Providing young children with the opportunity to develop motor skills is as simple as practice makes perfect. Practising key motor skills in the ways suggested can help ensure young children are equipped with the competencies and abilities to move and use their bodies, preparing them to lead happy and healthy lives.
Sophie M Phillips, Post-Doctoral Associate, School of Occupational Therapy, Western University; Dan Jones, Lecturer in Public Health and Research Methods, Teesside University, and Trish Tucker, Professor and Director of the Child Health and Physical Activity Lab, Western University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Expert Insight reflects the perspective and scholarly interest of Western faculty members and is not an articulation of official university policy on issues being addressed.