Motor Skills Development

Three Strands of Learning in Motor Skills Development

Motor Skills Development includes three strands of learning:

• Motor skills acquisition
• Health and fitness
• Safety awareness

In the strand of motor skills acquisition, children develop the basic skills for
them to be efficient and effective movers.
Motor Skills Acquisition
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills involve coordination and control of the wrists, fingers and hands in carrying out a specific
task with precision.
Acquisition of fine motor skills helps children to be more independent in carrying out daily activities such as
cutting with a pair of scissors and applying glue on a piece of paper.
Strengthening the fine motor skills also allows children to perform self-help tasks such as tying their
shoelaces and fastening buttons on their clothes.
When children have well-developed fine motor skills, they will be able to use drawing, writing and art tools
such as pencils, chalks and paintbrushes more efficiently.
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills involve the use of the large muscles in the arms, legs and torso during movement. Using the large
muscles, children are able to perform the fundamental movement skills comprising locomotor, non-locomotor and
manipulative skills.

Learning experiences that allow children to explore a variety of movements and develop their gross motor skills.
Writing requires good Well-developed fine motor skills allow children to
control of the hands. be skillful in using their fingers to create art works.
Strengthening hand muscles helps children to be more precise in
performing more complex skills such as cutting and weaving.
Balancing:
To extend their learning, get children to explore balancing their beanbags on different parts of the body
Throwing and catching
Get children to practise tossing soft rubber balls (body awareness) above their heads (relationship awareness)
and catching them with both hands. The activity can be extended to pairwork (relationship awareness) that
allow them to work with their partners in throwing and catching the soft rubber quoits (relationship awareness).
Health and Fitness
Through their involvement in physical activities, children develop components of fitness such as agility, coordination and
flexibility. Physical fitness is an essential part of children’s learning as it affects their performance in sports and games. For
example, how fast a child runs is related to his muscular strength and endurance.
3-4 year-old Development:
Gross motor (big body and movement) skills Your child is learning to:

•Walk up and down stairs, alternating feet -- one foot per step

•Kick, throw, and catch a ball

•Climb well

•Run more confidently and ride a tricycle

•Hop and stand on one foot for up to five seconds

•Walk forward and backward easily

•Bend over without falling

•Help put on and remove clothing

Fine motor (play and self-help) skills Your child is learning to:
•More easily handle small objects and turn a page in a book

•Use age-appropriate scissors

•Copy circles (3) and squares (4)

•Draw a person with two to four body parts

•Write some capital letters

•Build a tower with four or more blocks

•Dress and undress without your help

•Screw and unscrew jar lids

•Turn rotating handles

 
4-5 year-old Development:

Gross motor (big body and movement) skills Your child is learning to:

• Run well with arms moving at sides.

• Stop running quickly and without falling.

• Jump forward in a longer distance.

• Skip, hop on one foot five times, and stand on one foot for 5 seconds.

• Throw a ball for a longer distance both underhand and overhand, and begin to hit a target.
Fine motor (play and self-help) skills Your child is learning to:

• Draw a circle, square, X and a person with three or four body parts.

• Complete a seven-piece puzzle board.

• Cut out simple shapes.

• Color within the lines most of the time.

• Reproduce a line of three to five beads or blocks using the same sizes, shapes or colors.

• Make designs out of blocks after learning how.

• Build with Lincoln Logs

5-6 year-old Development:
Gross motor (big body and movement) skills Your child is learning to:
• Run fast, pick up an object from the floor, turn around fast and run back to you without falling.

• Jump forward, taking off with both feet and landing on both feet.
• Jump over an object, taking off with and landing on both feet.
• Stand on one leg for 10 seconds without losing balance or holding your hands for support.
• Hop on one foot for 20 feet or more without losing balance.
• Skip.
• Throw a ball underhand and overhand.
• Hit a target with a tennis ball.
• Catch a large ball.
Fine motor (play and self-help) skills Your child is learning to:

• Tell the right side of the body from the left.

• Copy or print letters, numbers and simple words (though you may not be able to read his or her

writing).

• Grasp a pencil or crayon with three fingers instead of a fist.

• Complete a puzzle board with 8 to 12 pieces.

• Take a picture with missing parts and make it “whole.”

• Draw a person with at least eight body parts.

• Copy complex shapes, such as designs with two shapes (overlapping circles), an arrow or a diamond.