Blog Post

The importance of Gross Motor Development

Bev’O Shea (Principal of Junior College Sandton) • Jul 01, 2019

Gross motor (physical) skills are those which require whole body movement and which involve the large (core stabilising) muscles of the body to perform everyday functions, such as standing and walking, running, climbing and jumping, and sitting upright at the table. They also includes eye-hand co-ordination skills such as ball skills (throwing, catching and kicking) as well as riding a bike or a scooter and swimming.

Gross motor skills are important to enable children to perform every day functions. Gross motor abilities also have an influence on other everyday functions. For example, a child’s ability to maintain appropriate table- top posture (upper body support) will affect their ability to participate in fine motor skills (e.g. writing, drawing and cutting). These skills have an impact on the child’s ability to navigate their environment (e.g. walking around classroom items such as a table and chair or up a sloped playground hill). Without well- developed gross motor skills, a child will struggle with many daily tasks such as eating, packing away their toys, getting onto and off the toilet or potty and sitting on a chair or stool.

Children with gross motor difficulties often display:

  • Avoidance or general disinterest in physical tasks
  • Rush performance of physical tasks (to mask difficulty or fatigue)
  • Unusual performance of physical task they find challenging
  • Assertiveness in telling others how to do the physical task or play the game without actively engaging themselves

Gross motor skills are an important part of early childhood development. Children should be encouraged to play on the outdoor equipment throughout the day. This allows children to gain confidence when using the equipment, and refine and further develop these skills.

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