GROSS MOTOR SKILLS: PSYCHOMOTOR SKILLS, DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES - GEOGRAFÍA - 2024

The gross motor skills is one of the two types of motor skills that children need to learn during their development. It has to do with movements that use large muscles, such as those in the arms, legs, or torso. This is different from fine motor skills, which has to do with very specific movements.

Within fine motor skills movements such as grabbing objects with the hands stand out. Instead, gross motor skills are the foundation for movements we perform every day, such as standing, walking, running, or sitting upright. They also include body stabilization and hand-eye coordination.

Gross motor skills are essential for all the actions we perform on a day-to-day basis. Without these, people would not be able to use fine motor skills either; therefore, it is important that children with gross motor development problems receive help as soon as possible.

Gross psychomotor skills

Motor skills are actions that have to do with the movement of muscles in the body. They are usually divided into two groups: gross motor skills, which is related to the movements of large muscles such as the arms, legs or the entire body; and fine motor skills, which is related to smaller actions.

Normally, both types of motor skills are developed at the same time, since most of the daily actions require a mixture of wide and fine movements.

However, gross motor skills are developed much earlier than fine motor skills, although the skills related to it can be improved throughout life.

This type of motor skills is developed in a specific order: from head to toe, and from torso to extremities.

From head to toe

Gross motor skills are acquired starting with the control of the muscles of the head and neck, and they decrease as the child grows.

The first skill that babies master is to hold their heads up, long before they learn to walk or even to sit.

From torso to extremities

On the other hand, gross motor skills also follow a specific order from the torso to the extremities. Again, children first learn to sit upright before learning to handle their limbs effectively.

Therefore, the gross psychomotor skills that take the longest to appear are those that involve complex uses of the legs and feet, as well as the arms: walking, balancing on one foot or doing a handstand are some of the examples of skills. thick complex.

How does it develop?

Next we will see the specific order in which gross motor skills are developed.

From birth to two years

The first skill of this kind that babies learn is to hold their heads up. Before mastering this movement, it is necessary to support their necks so that they do not hurt themselves when they are held in an upright position.

Children are born without any control over their head; however, between the ages of four and six weeks most are able to raise their head to a 45º position while lying down.

By 16 weeks they can move their necks to the side, and by 24 weeks they can lift their heads while lying flat.

Later, around 10 months, almost all babies are able to sit up on their own for long periods of time.

Movement at this stage

In the period from birth to two years, babies learn most of the movement skills that they will use throughout their lives. Babies as young as nine weeks can roll, the most basic form of movement.

At seven months the baby is usually able to crawl on his arms without using his legs; By twelve, they can usually crawl for real.

While learning these skills that they will use temporarily, children are also strengthening motor skills that will allow them to stand for a long time.

To stand up, children first do it by leaning on furniture or other people. By the time they are ten months old they are usually able to take their first steps (albeit insecurely), and by twelve / eighteen months they can walk independently.

From two to four years

Children of this age are usually very physically active. At two years of age, infants have already developed a very wide range of gross motor skills.

They can run quite well, and even go up and down stairs in a rudimentary way (usually by holding onto the handrail and putting both feet on each step).

Aside from these basic skills, two to four year olds display a more complex set of skills.

For example, many of them are capable of climbing trees, can throw balls with both feet and hands, or even walk backwards.

From four to six years

Four-year-olds have even more gross motor skills, having already acquired most of these. In general, they can do things like stand and jump on one foot, walk up and down stairs with alternating feet, and jump over objects in both directions.

At these ages, children begin to show the first levels of self-awareness about their motor skills. This can lead them to try to acquire new, more complex skills and to feel proud when they succeed, but also to have a sense of failure when they fail.

On the other hand, this new need to improve themselves could lead them to try activities for which they are not prepared, so parents should be careful with them and help them when they do complex activities.

School age and adolescence

School-age children no longer undergo the rapid and complicated changes that younger children experience, and which will return once they enter adolescence.

Therefore, between the ages of 6 and 12, they tend to have great control over their body and tend to be competent in a large number of physical activities.

Most of the actions that adults can take are also achievable by children of these ages. For example, at 8 or 9 years old, little ones can skate, ride a bike, walk on tiptoe, balance on one foot for a long time, and even begin to perform basic stunts, such as handstand or wheel.

However, some of the more complex sports practiced by adults are still out of reach for children of these ages, as they require better hand-eye coordination and higher levels of distance estimation. On the other hand, you also need to have better reaction times than those presented by children.

All these skills - the latter related to gross motor skills that most people develop - are acquired during adolescence and early adulthood.

On the other hand, during these stages people also gain greater strength and endurance, which allows them to access all kinds of complex sports.

Gross motor activities

Parents concerned about their children's development will be pleased to know that gross motor skills are very easy to acquire.

Most children do not require any special care to develop them; however, there are many activities that parents can encourage to help them through the process.

Swing

Making a swing move requires coordination between the upper and lower parts of the body. Therefore, teaching a child to swing alone can help improve their gross motor skills.

Roll down a hill

This activity, in addition to being great fun for the little ones, also helps them to better understand how the movements of their arms and legs influence the speed of descent. This can help them improve their self-awareness and gain more confidence in the way they move.

Jump rope

This is, without a doubt, one of the best activities you can do with your children if you want them to learn more complex gross motor skills.

The good thing about jumping rope is that you can start practicing very easily, just moving the rope slowly and making them jump at a low speed.

However, once your children have mastered the basic jumps, there are many ways you can increase the challenge: by having them hopped, teaching double jumps, among other variations.

Play in the park obstacles

Playgrounds are not there just for children to have fun, but also for them to learn and develop new skills. In these they can discover how to climb, balance, move around the monkey bars and, in general, discover the limits of their body.

The only consideration to keep in mind is that you will have to keep an eye on your children so they don't get hurt as they explore their new abilities.

References

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2. What Are Gross Motor Skills in Children? - Development, Definition & Examples ”in: Study. Retrieved on: May 03, 2018 from Study: study.com.
3. "Gross motor skills" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: May 03, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
4. "Gross motor skills" in: Children's Health. Retrieved on: May 03, 2018 from Children's Health: healthofchildren.com.
5. "Activities to improve gross motor skills" in: Understood. Retrieved on: May 03, 2018 from Understood: understood.org.