Physical & Motor Development in Primary Children

Children develop physical, cognitive, language and social skills from birth. Each child develops at his individual pace. Physical skills continue to develop through grade school and into adulthood.

Gross Motor

• Gross motor skills begin to develop at birth. The use of large muscle groups allows a child to sit, stand, walk and run. Grade school introduces team sports and the refinement of specific skills. Gross motor development involves muscle tone, muscle strength and range of motion. If her muscles are too tight, she might have movements that are jerky. If his muscles are too loose, his movements might be slow. Muscle tone interacts with strength to produce movement. Muscle strength is not uniform throughout the body. She might be a fast runner and have little upper body strength.

  Provide opportunities to exercise all of the major muscle groups. Range of motion refers to movements that span the entire body. Passing objects from one side to the other precedes the ability to throw a ball. Enroll him in any physical activities that are interesting, and encourage frequent practice to improve specific skills.

Fine Motor

• Fine motor skills emerge independent from large motor skills around age 2. Using the small muscle groups for writing and drawing begins with the first crayon scribble. Improve muscle strength in hands by playing with clay. Provide a variety of surfaces and writing instruments to encourage experimentation. Practice will improve handwriting and legibility. Accommodations might need to be made for some developmental disabilities. Contact the school's special education department for additional information if there are concerns. Build with blocks to practice the visual motor skills that are required to hit a ball with a bat. Encourage activities that require hand-eye coordination to improve these skills.

Motor Planning

• Motor planning is the ability of a child to interact effectively with her physical environment. When confronted with a new physical task, can he plan, organize and execute unfamiliar motor actions? If she has difficulty with a task, consider if she is unable to physically complete the task or unable to figure out how to complete it. He might know how to swing from the monkey bars but not have the upper body strength to do so. Conversely, she might not be able to figure out how to grasp the bars in the first place. Difficulty with motor planning might be an indication of a larger developmental difficulty. Consult a medical professional with any concerns.

Sensory Integration

• A child's relationship to their senses can affect his physical development. The five senses of sight, touch, smell, sound and taste integrate to provide information about the world around him. If one or more of these senses is oversensitive or under sensitive, it will affect how she interacts with the world. In addition, the movement sense and spatial sense can be oversensitive or under sensitive. Oversensitivity to light and sound can cause severe distractions in a school environment and create difficulties with behavior. An under sensitive sense of motion might cause restlessness and an inability to concentrate. Provide opportunities to interact with a variety of environments to help the senses integrate.

Tips

• Children learn best through play. Provide opportunities for a variety of physical activities, from team sports to individual activities such as swimming or gymnastics.