Child Development: Motor Skills

Involves the use of large muscles such as the legs, arms, and other large bod parts.

Involves smaller movements that use the smaller muscles such as hands, wrists, fingers, feet, toes. (Precision and Coordination is needed for Mastery)

is the ability to control and change the position and direction of the body while maintaining a constant, rapid motion. For example, changing directions to kick a soccer ball is an example of agility.

is the ability to stabilize or control the body when standing or moving to remain upright. Balance involves knowing where your body is in space and making adjustments to your body as one's center of gravity changes. There are very few sports where balance does not play a vital role.

the ability to use the senses together with body parts during movement. This is often referred to as hand-eye coordination, foot-eye

the ability to move body parts swiftly while applying the maximum force of the muscles. Power is a combination of muscular strength and speed. Often we think of football players, gymnasts, and weightlifters as the leaders in power, but all sports benefit from improving power.

the ability to respond quickly to external stimuli. Reaction time relies greatly on the mind-body connection.

the ability to move your body and body parts quickly. Numerous sports require speed and count on speed to surpass opponents.

-Growth slows
-Proportions become less child-like and more adult-like
-Males and females have similar body shapes and proportions
-Fine and gross motor skills become more refined

-Grow rapidly
-Lose chubbiness from infancy and toddlerhood and develop a leaner appearance
-Develop fine motor skills (using pencils, crayons, scissors, etc.)
-Continue to develop gross motor skills (balancing on one foot, skipping)

-Adolescent growth spurt leads to a significant increase in height and weight
Students go through puberty, the physical process of sexual maturation
-Onset of growth spurt and puberty typically occurs earlier for females than males

-Poor nutrition (can student physical development because of the lack of energy in cells)
-Lack of sleep (can affect the release of growth hormones)
-Lack of exercise (can affect lack of muscle devlopment)
-Drug exposure
-Physical abuse

the physical growth and strengthening of a child's bones, muscles, and ability to move and touch his/her surroundings.

fine motor skils and gross motor skills

involves smaller movements that use the small muscles of the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, and toes.

precision and coordination is needed for mastery

involve s use of large muscles such as the legs, arms, and other large body parts.

Fine-
1)Looks at and reaches for faces and objects.
2)Picks up a rattle or toy with one hand.

Gross-
1)Lifts head and chest when lying on stomach.
2)Turns around when lying on stomach.

Fine-
1)Picks up an object with thumb and finger grasp.
2)Transfers objects from one hand to another.

Gross-
1)Sits alone, without support.
2)Rolls from back to stomach.

Fine-
1)Transfers objects from one hand to another

Gross-
1)Walks around holding on to objects for support.
2)Crawls on hands and knees.

Fine-
1)Scribbles with a crayon.
2)Stacks two or more blocks.

Gross-
1)Walks without help.
2)Stands without support.

Fine-
1)Builds towers with four or more blocks.
2)Turns pages of a picture book, one at a time.

Gross-
1)Walks up and down stairs alone.
2)Kicks a ball forward.

Fine-
1)Copies or draws small vertical lines.
2)Cuts with small scissors.

Gross-
1)Walks up and down stairs using one foot per step.
2)Stands on one foot without support.

Fine-
1)Copies or draws a complete circle.
2)Cuts a line across a paper with small scissors.

Gross-
1)Rides around on a tricycle using the pedals.
2)Climbs in/out, overnder objects easily.

Fine-
1)Prints first name.
2)Draws a person with at least three body parts.

Gross-
1)Skips or makes running "broad jumps."
2)Hops around on one foot without support.

Fine-
1)Puts together a 16-to-20 piece puzzle.
2)Prints all numbers 0-9 and alphabet letters.

Gross-
1)Throws ball overhand with direction.
2)Catches smaller balls.

Fine-
1)Draws detailed and complex shapes and pictures.
2)Uses all eating utensils appropriately.

Gross-
1)Kicks a ball with accuracy.
2)Rides a two-wheel bicycle without training wheels.

They develop slower, faster, differently than their peers.

1)Environmental Factors
2)Emotional Development
3)Social Development
4)Health Factors

-Children with health issues typically develop at a slower rate
- Proper nutrition, healthy sleeping patterns access to medical care. are important.

The more social opportunities the child is exposed to the more experiences they are willing to participate in = better motor development skills.

If a child is unable to control their emotions, react to their environment, they will likely limit their exposure to motor developments.

The more exposure the child has in its environment the more opportunities it has to master motor development.

-Childre w/ playgrounds, outside playing will typically develop gross motor skills faster.

is the ability to understand where your body is in space. The muscles and joints of the body send information to your brain about your body and how it moves.

is the ability to understand the concepts of left and right, up and down, top and bottom, front and back, and in and out.

is an awareness of oneself and other objects in space.

- Children with spatial awareness difficulties often have problems determining distances and may be clumsy, bump into things often, or stand too close to others

is the ability to judge movement and time. Individuals with fully developed temporal awareness have strong eye-hand and eye-foot coordination.

tempo = movements

Complete age-and ability appropriate obstacle courses, and movement games that verbalize movements. such as Simon says.

is an active-learning strategy that helps students use their bodies to develop various skills and concepts

Ex: Have the students use their bodies to mimic animals, various objects, and shapes. Movement games.

combines a child's sensory skills (brain) and motor skills (body) to synchronize body movements and perform a variety of movements

is the ability to recognize differences between sounds.