Last week we talked about “fine motor skills,” which is just a fancy term for use of hands. This week we’re talking about another key component in child development and school readiness: gross motor skills.
These skills are larger movements that a child makes with arms, legs, feet and his entire body. Running, jumping, climbing — these are all part of a child’s gross motor development.
While fine motor skills — like writing, sorting, cutting — are obvious for school readiness, you may wonder why gross motor skills are so important. Other than a child enjoying her time on the playground, why the school readiness emphasis on these larger muscle groups?
Gross motor development and brain development go hand in hand.
Early experiences matter!
We live in a day where more and more young children spend their time in front of screens instead of playing outside. The preschool years are a precious and important window as the architecture of the brain is being constructed at a rapid pace.
As with most readiness skills, gross motor development doesn’t require an education degree, special tools, or lots of one on one time. A trip to the playground or an hour spent playing outside is all it takes!
Readiness foundations are everyday foundations.
Here are 10 FREE everyday ways YOU CAN help your child develop gross motor skills:
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Hop, skip, and jump in your driveway or yard.
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Have a dance party.
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Toss a ball back and forth.
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Walk across a balance beam. {You can make one by drawing a line with sidewalk chalk or using painter’s tape.}
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Jumping Jacks and Windmills
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Play Pretend. {Have him waddle like a duck, fly like an airplane or hop like a rabbit. Or let him pretend to be something, and you can guess what he is.}
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Hula Hoops. {Jump through, crawl through, or throw into the air and catch.}
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Create {or have your kids create} a simple obstacle course outside or inside with materials you already have. {Think hopping, skipping, crawling, balancing.}
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Hopscotch
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Visit a playground! {Because your kids aren’t simply playing. They’re building their brains!}
This post is part of the I CAN campaign, a statewide push to encourage school readiness across South Carolina. Social media, billboards, I CAN signs in our communities, and our recent op-ed piece in The Greenville News have been spreading the word about the importance of readiness foundations and everyday ways we can all play a part in getting our youngest learners ready for school.
{If you want to know why readiness is so important, click here.
Want more creative ideas on developing fine motor skills in preschoolers? Here are some great links!
26 Gross Motor Activities for Kids Who Like to Move at “Hands on While We Grow”
8 Fun Ways to Build Gross Motor Skills at Understood.org
Gross and Fine Motor Activities for Early Childhood
If you’d like to know everyday ways that you can nurture the young children and their families in your life, subscribe to our blog where we provide FREE tips and everyday encouragement! {You can do that in the top right sidebar of the blog.}
We’d love to hear your thoughts! What’s your favorite way to develop gross motor skills?
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By Marian Vischer, Communications Coordinator
