Gross motor skill
These skills are built upon, improved and better controlled throughout early childhood, and continue in refinement throughout most of the individual's years of development into adulthood.
The children will typically learn head control, trunk stability, and then standing up and walking.
It is shown that children exposed to outdoor play time activities will develop better gross motor skills.
Fine motor skills are involved in smaller movements that occur in the wrists, hands, fingers, and the feet and toes.
They participate in smaller actions such as picking up objects between the thumb and finger, writing carefully, and even blinking.
[1] There is a new device called a "Standing Dani" developed to help special needs children with their posture.
The tests proved that babies who just learned how to walk did not know what they were capable of and often went down slopes that were not safe, whereas experienced walkers knew what they could do.
According to the nonprofit Blind Children Center, "Without special training, fully capable infants who are visually impaired may not learn to crawl or walk at an appropriate age and gross and fine motor skills will not properly develop."
Visually impaired children may need physical therapy to help them learn these gross motor skills faster.
[4] It has been observed by scientists that motor skills generally develop from the center to the body outward and head to tail.
At first they are only able to lay their belly on the floor but by around two months they start to gain muscle to raise their head and chest off the ground.
Research has been found that it delays developing the core torso strength, which can lead to different issues down in their future.
(Oswalt) With regards to the gait pattern, study shows that infant at 12 months old exhibit larger mediolateral motion, which may be caused by weak muscle strength and lack of stability.
They also show a synchronized use of hip and shoulder while they are walking, which is different from a mature gait pattern performed by adults.
Near the end of their second year, complex gross motor skills begin to develop including throwing and kicking.
It is normal for them to get themselves into small situations that could be dangerous such as walking into the street because their brain can't send the information fast enough to their feet.
The variables for which there were significant differences tended to be in displacement, velocity, and magnitude of force measurements.
[6] Children with disabilities who are as young as seven months can learn to drive a power wheelchair using a joystick interface.
[7] This chair may decrease the rate of development of the child's gross motor skills, but there are ways to compensate for this.
There is research out to find a device to encourage children to explore their environment while gaining their gross motor skills.
[2] A 2017 Cochrane review found that for children with delays associated with cerebral palsy or Down Syndrome up to the age of six the use of a treadmill may accelerate the development of independent walking.
A child in an encouraging environment with constructive feedback will develop fundamental motor skills at a faster rate.
Typically, females perform better fundamental movement skills at an earlier age than males.
Children who do not master fundamental motor skills are less likely to participate in sport games during childhood and adolescence.
[citation needed] At 3 years of age, children enjoy simple movements, such as hopping, jumping, and running back and forth, just for the sheer delight of performing these activities.
At 5 years of age, they are fully able to go down the stairs one foot at a time in addition to improvements in their balance and running.
[10] According to the article "The Relationship Between Fundamental Motor Skills and Outside-School Physical Activity of Elementary School Children", the developmental level of overhand throwing and jumping of elementary kids is related to skill specific physical activity outside of school.
The study showed that the developmental level of the fundamental skills (overhand-throwing and jumping) are related to skill-specific physical activity outside of school in elementary children.
In other studies it has been seen that having a higher motor proficiency leads to kids being more physically active, and in most cases more athletic.
Even though athletes keep getting better than their predecessors—running faster, jumping higher, and lifting more weight—the age at which they reach their peak performance has remained virtually the same.
