All child develop their motor skills at different rates and ages
All child develop their motor skills at different rates and ages. There are two types of motor skills: gross and fine. Gross motor skills are the abilities needed to control the body’s large muscles for walking, running, bike riding, and other activities. Fine motor skills involve the use of small muscles in the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, and toes. Fine motor skills involve the movements of small muscles that require your child’s brain to coordinate between the action and what they are seeing. Here are some exercises to help improve your child’s motor skills.
Hopscotch
Hopping and jumping require strong gross motor skills, balance, and coordination. Hopscotch is a simple way to practice those skills. As a bonus, it can help practice number skills, too! If you don’t have a sidewalk to draw on or a playground nearby, you can set up hallway hopscotch using painter’s tape.
Playground Play
Playing on the playground can have many benefits for kids. For example, swinging on a swing set can help kids develop balance. It also helps them learn how to coordinate shifting their weight and moving their legs back and forth.
Dancing
Freestyle dancing can be a fun and freeing way to move the body and enhance gross motor skill development. Dancing as a physical activity not only builds endurance but is also a great stress reducer. Integrating music into an activity is also a great way to stimulate the brain further.
Marital Arts
Mаrtіаl аrtѕ trаіnіng is an excellent way to help kids develop strength in their arms and legs. Actions like kicking, punching, and grappling work to develop core muscle groups. It can help kids with balance and spatial awareness.
Painting
Painting helps not only your child’s fine motor skills, but also creativity and imagination too. For example, using a paintbrush helps kids learn to hold a brush and gain greater control using things in their hands, including pencils and other items.
Play-Dough
Play-dough is a great sensory tool for kids. It can also help improve a child’s fine motor skills. Encourage your child to squeeze, stretch, pinch and roll with the play clay. You can even have your child try to cut the play-dough with scissors.
Cutting with Scissors
Using scissors is a great way to strengthen fine motor skills as well as improve hand-eye coordination and concentration. You can draw shapes for your child to cut around.
The Connections Therapy Center
The Connections Therapy Center serves families of children and adolescents with disabilities and special needs. We are a team of experts in the fields of pediatric speech, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and behavioral sciences. As a team, we offer intensive hands-on therapy for children and adolescents, as well as informative and useful resources for families. If you are interested in learning more about what we can do to help your family, visit us online or give us a call at (301) 577-4333. Want to get more information on how to help your child thrive? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest.