Gross Motor Advice for pre-schoolers (3yrs+)
Please note- This information is for higher level gross motor skill development of preschool aged children (throwing and catching skills, balance, spatial awareness etc). Should you require gross motor skill development for children 3 and under or your need is relating to a physical condition or disability please contact the Pre-school physiotherapy team. Further information can be found by clicking here.
What are gross motor skills?
Motor skills are part of your child’s everyday life, and are the basic movement skills that allow us to do the things we want and need to do throughout the day. They allow us to do everything from walking to playing and we build on these from the moment we are born. Motor skills themselves can be separated into a number of category's, with this page focusing on the large movements of the body known as Gross motor skills. These the large muscle groups, which work together to produce actions such as running, jumping, catching and throwing.
Regardless of what type of motor skill it may be, children need to experience movement in order to learn about themselves, and how they fit into the environment around them. To move well, a child must be able to:
- Know where all the parts of their body are.
- Control the body as it moves.
- Co-ordinate the different parts of their body so that movement is smooth.
- Judge the amount of force, strength, and speed needed.
- Understand directions – up/ down, back/ front, left/ right, top/ bottom etc.
- Appreciate the rhythm and timing of movements.
- Make safety decisions about when to move, and where to move too.
- Be able to stay still.
How can you support gross motor skill development?
Children develop, strengthen and master their motor skills through everyday activity, whether at home, school or playing with others but all children require opportunity to practice these skills. Modern day society is now often more stationary, we tend to sit for longer periods and move less and this is generally due to the increase in technology such as TV's, phones and gaming consoles. As a result, we are seeing more and more children with higher level gross motor difficulties.
To support parents and caregivers with building on their child's gross motor skills we have put together a handout named 'Gross Motor Development Ideas for Pre-Schoolers (3 years +)'. This document is aimed to offer the following:
- A Breakdown of gross motor skills (Praxis, Sequencing etc)
- How to use this pack to help your child
- Graded activity ideas to help build on gross motor skills to use at home or school.
To access this free to download document, please click on the documents section below.
