Motor development of infants
Toddler development - motor skills
Toddler development - motor skills | Pregnancy Birth and Baby beginning of content7-minute read
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Children grow and develop fast during their toddler years. They start exploring their world more independently. Their coordination improves, and they begin doing more things for themselves. There are many ways in which you can help your toddler develop both their fine and gross motor (movement) skills.
What are motor skills?
Children develop 2 types of motor (movement) skills:
- fine motor skills
- gross motor skills
Fine motor skills involve using your hands and fingers to control small objects.
Gross motor skills involve using the large muscles in your body to make large movements.
Fine motor skills
Fine motor skills engage the small muscles in the hands and fingers so your child can:
- hold
- grasp
- grip
- pinch
Examples of fine motor skills are:
- buttoning up a shirt
- holding a pencil
- picking up food
Children develop fine motor skills so they can learn how to look after themselves. These skills help them to eventually learn to write.
Fine motor skills are important. Evidence suggests there's a link between fine motor skills development and language, literacy and brain development.
Other examples of fine motor skills include:
- clapping hands
- cleaning teeth
- picking up and putting objects down
- putting on shoes
- rolling playdough
- shaking musical instruments
At what age will my child develop fine motor skills?
While all children develop at their own pace, they do reach some milestones within certain age ranges.
Babies start to grasp objects using their hands (but not necessarily their thumbs) between 5 and 6 months old. They usually start to play with hand-held toys between 6 and 12 months.
By 18 months, most toddlers will attempt more complex skills. These may include:
- drinking from a cup independently
- trying to dress themselves
- using a crayon or pencil
From 2 years old, toddlers' fine motor skills become more sophisticated. They may start to show an interest in:
- scribbling
- drawing
- trying to write
Between 2 and 3 years old, they might be able to turn doorknobs and screw jar lids.
By 5 years old, your child might show a preference for one hand over the other.
How can I help my child improve their fine motor skills?
You can help your child grow and practise their newfound skills through play and activities.
- Paint, draw, glue and cut (with safety scissors).
- Pick up objects with tongs or toy tweezers.
- Play with blocks, Lego or do puzzles together.
- Roll playdough into shapes and cut with cookie cutters.
- Sand play using spades and buckets.
- Stacking cups or containers so they can pop the smaller ones into the larger ones. They can also use them to fill with water and practise pouring.
- Thread beads.
Gross motor skills
Gross motor skills involve the movement of the larger muscles in their arms, legs, and torso, such as:
- crawling
- jumping
- running
- throwing
You might notice that as your toddler builds their gross motor skills, they don't like to keep still.
When will my child develop gross motor skills?
Like fine motor skills, kids start developing gross motor skills when they're small babies. Even in their first 2 months, babies will kick their legs and wave their arms around.
At 6 to 8 months old, your baby should be able to roll, reach and sit independently (if only briefly).
Between 12 and 18 months, most babies are walking.
By 2 years old, toddlers can typically:
- jump over small objects
- throw a small ball or object
- walk up and down stairs
Between 2 and 3 years, kids are capable of more complex movements such as:
- climbing stairs without holding the railing
- running faster
- avoiding obstacles
At 3 to 5 years old, movement may progress to:
- climbing on play equipment
- walking on a balance beam
How can I help my child improve their gross motor skills?
Give your child the space to safely explore their environment and practise their gross motor skills.
You can expect a few falls and bumps. They'll likely be testing their physical limits to know how far they can run, climb, and jump. You can:
- blow and chase bubbles outside
- dance to music at home
- encourage them to 'help' with everyday tasks, such as gardening or hanging clothes on the line
- throw a large ball to them, and have them throw it back
- visit playgrounds, parks, and the beach
- wheel, push or ride on large toy
Try to limit screen time, as this can inhibit movement and physical play.
When to seek help
It’s normal for children to take different amounts of time to reach different milestones. However, if you feel like your child's motor skills aren't developing well, seek advice. See your doctor or child health nurse if your 2 or 3-year-old:
- can't run
- can't walk up and down stairs, even with help
- has difficulty using small objects, like a crayon
- doesn't scribble or try to draw
- loses the physical skills they had before
Where can I get more information and support?
For resources on helping your child’s motor skills develop, you can visit the Learning Potential website.
You can call Parentline in your state or territory for advice and information:
- Parentline ACT: (02) 6287 3833, Mon to Fri, 9am – 5pm AEST / Sat, 10am – 12 midday
- Parent Line NSW: 1300 1300 52, Mon to Fri, 9am – 9pm / weekends, 4pm – 9pm
- Parentline Queensland and Northern Territory: 1300 30 1300, 7 days, 8am – 10pm
- Parent Helpline South Australia: 1300 364 100, 7 days, 7.
15am – 9.15pm
- Parent Line Tasmania: 1300 808 178, 24 hours, 7 days
- Parentline Victoria: 13 22 89, 7 days, 8am – 12 midnight
- Ngala Parenting Line WA: (08) 9368 9368 or 1800 111 546, Open 7 days a week, 8am – 8pm
Speak to a maternal child health nurse
Call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby to speak to a maternal child health nurse on 1800 882 436 or video call. Available 7am to midnight (AET), 7 days a week.
Sources:
International journal of environmental research and public health (A Network Perspective on the Relationship between Screen Time, Executive Function, and Fundamental Motor Skills among Preschoolers), Queensland Government Early Childhood Education and Care (Developing motor skills), Victoria State Government (Literacy Teaching Toolkit - Fine motor), Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (Developmental milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards), Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service (Red Flags Early Identification Guide), Healthy WA (Child development)Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content.
Last reviewed: July 2022
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Help your Baby Develop Motor Skills
Why Are Motor Skills Important?
Motor skills are essential for baby's physical strength and movement
Motor skills are used everyday throughout our lives. They help us move and do everything from lifting heavy items to typing on a keyboard. Motor skills and motor control begin developing after birth, and will progress as children grow.
Having good motor control also helps children explore the world around them, which can help with many other areas of development.
Motor skills are broken up into two categories: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Mastering both are important for children’s growth and independence.
Gross motor skills are movements related to large muscles such as legs, arms, and trunk.
Fine motor skills are movements involving smaller muscle groups such as those in the hand and wrist.
Watch the Parents' Guide to Fine Versus Gross Motor Skills:
Motor Skills: Know the Basics
Why does my child need motor skills?
- To be able to move and complete tasks independently
- To be able to explore the world around them, which promotes cognitive, speech, and sensory development
- To give them confidence and independence, which promotes skills such as executive function
- To meet developmental milestones
- To possibly help prevent early motor delays and conditions that can interrupt development
When should my baby start developing motor skills?
As a newborn! They will begin developing core motor skills as soon as they start moving. Sign up for the Baby Games Calendar or visit our Baby Games page to learn more about the physical activities that are age-appropriate for your little one, to help them make progress on their motor skills every week.
How often should my child work on their motor skills?
The short answer: every day!
As they get older, your little one will be working their motor skills every day just by going about their daily routine and getting more involved in activities! However, for infants and toddlers, they may need extra stimulation to work their motor skills. Make sure you are encouraging physical movement and development of these skills on a daily basis.
What are some important motor milestones?
All motor milestones are important! Which means it’s crucial to ensure your baby is meeting their milestones. You can find all motor milestones or learn more from the Assure the Best brochure.
The achievement of one milestone tends to lead to another. So for example, while babies typically do not crawl until 7-9 months, they achieve plenty of other milestones before that so they have the strength and confidence to crawl.
Learn more about encouraging your baby to crawl!
Motor Milestones
Check off your baby’s motor milestones with our helpful and FREE brochure and checklist!
Learn more about baby's motor milestones with the Assure the Best brochure.
Download the Brochure
The Milestone Checklist helps parents keep track of their children’s motor, sensory, communication and feeding milestones, from birth to 3 years old. Also available in multiple languages.
Download the Checklist
Why Sleep Matters for Motor Skills
Changing baby's sleep direction can help strengthen baby's neck muscles and head control
Changing head direction can help prevent positional plagiocephaly (flat head) and positional torticollis, by encouraging baby to move their head and strengthen both sides of their neck. When baby faces different directions as they lay, they also vary the direction they turn their head in response to a noise (such as a parent entering the room). This strengthens neck muscles more evenly on both sides, and changes the places where baby puts pressure on their head as they lay.
Learn More
Motor Activities
Great ways for children to work their motor skills every day!
Much of your child’s fine and gross motor development can happen right at home! Learn more about some ways to keep them moving every day.
Help baby make progress on their motor skills every week!
Sign up for the Baby Games Calendar or visit our Baby Games page to learn more about the physical activities that are age-appropriate for your little one.
Sign Up Today
What to Watch For
What are some behaviors to watch out for that could affect my child’s motor skills?Children outgrow many of the behaviors that can interrupt motor development. Some common ones to watch out for include:
- Toe-Walking
- Chewing on items they shouldn’t be chewing on
- Falling often or having trouble lifting their head
- W-Sitting
Watch to see what w-sitting is and why it matters:
Typical and Atypical Motor Development
Motor behaviors that should be addressedWhat do typical and atypical development look like? What should it look like when baby begins to sit, crawl, and walk? In the below graphics, see what typical and atypical development look like. Typical development is in blue, and means baby is right on track; atypical development is in yellow, and means that baby may have a motor delay.
If you suspect a motor delay, reach out to baby’s healthcare provider to find out what may be causing this delay. Early intervention is essential for addressing development issues and preventing further delays.
Psychomotor development of a child under one year old: monthly calendar, norms
Each parent is concerned about the correct, harmonious development of his baby, so the question “Is my child developing normally?” always relevant among parents. However, most of all, this issue is puzzled by the “newly minted” moms and dads, who have just begun to bear the honorary title of “parents”. The first 12 months of the development of the first child is always a difficult period for all relatives and relatives of the baby. Everyone and everyone is trying to help with advice, to suggest something and to teach, how they bring young mothers and fathers to hysterics. “But Masha’s daughter at your age already held her head, and Vova’s daughter already had two teeth” - such remarks, unfortunately, are a special case in the life of the parents of the first-born. nine0003
How not to give in to anxiety and know if your child is developing in time, the psychomotor development calendar will help. Psychomotor development - what is it? To begin with, it is worth answering a simple question, what is it - the psychomotor development of a child? PMR is a whole set of skills, movements and mental reactions. It consists of two equally important parts: mental and motor. The mental part includes speech, adaptive skills; the motor part implies the development of motor-manual activity. With what to compare and acquaintance with the PMR-calendar Many of the young parents often reject the teachings and remarks of the older generations, they say, let them develop as nature pleases or each individual, each in his own way. nine0003
It is worth realizing and accepting, once and for all: yes, each of us is an individual personality that develops in its own way, depending on its characteristics. However, there are standard stages that everyone goes through in their development. These include psychomotor development. To date, highly qualified WHO specialists, based on a comparison of the psychomotor calendars of several dozen healthy children, have deduced the so-called common calendar. It lists the characteristics and requirements for the development of the child, his hearing, vision, emotional reactions, sensory, motor skills, etc. Thanks to the PMR calendar, you can follow the development of the child from both sides, both mental and motor. In case of any deviations, consult a doctor and solve the problem before it becomes a rib. nine0003
Frequency of reconciliation of indicators
If you still decide to follow the development of your child according to the calendar of psychomotor development, then it is worth remembering that each age category has its own indicator of the frequency of reconciliation of indicators. So in the first year of life, psychomotor development is checked against the calendar once a month, after 12 months and up to 3 years old it is necessary once every three months, and after up to six years - once every six months. This is due to the active development of all processes in the body up to a year and their slowdown up to six years. By the age of a younger student, psychomotor development ends, which means that the nervous processes are already fixed. nine0003
Indicators of psychomotor development of children from the first month of life to a year
First month:
1. Short-term fixation of the gaze on shiny and bright objects
2. Reaction to sound (starts at noise)
3. Capable of holding the head in a supine position
4. Smiles at close relatives whom he often sees
Second month:
1. Turns the head towards the noise source
2. Follows items
3. Capable of holding the head upright
4. Responds to speech
Third month:
1. Responds to speech with a smile or the first “aha”
2. Reaches for toys
3. Focuses on an object for a long time
4. Holds head well
5. Relies on elbows and knees in a horizontal position
6. The so-called "newborn" reflexes disappear
Fourth month:
1. Tries to roll onto back or side
2. Reaching for a toy
3. Laughs
4. "Knows" relatives, actively reacting to their appearance and behavior
Fifth month:
1. Sounds line up in a chain
2. There is a clearer recognition of relatives and strangers (fear of new people is possible)
3. Reaches for toys, examines them for a long time
4. Standing with support in the armpit on the toes
Sixth month:
1. Plays with a toy, takes it from one hand to another
2. Actively rolls over from back to tummy
3. Reacts differently to relatives and strangers
4. "Ask" for pens
Seventh month:
1. With support in the armpit, dances, stands on a full leg
2. Able to hold the back itself
3. Actively moves the legs, constantly reaches for them in the supine position
4. An understanding comes that you can reach the object by turning over on your stomach or back. nine0009 5. Requires attention, because of which he often cries, if one is not enough.
Eighth month:
1. Able to sit or lie down independently
2. Can simultaneously hold an object in both handles, but not for long
3. More clearly pronounces the simplest letter combinations: "Ba", "Pa", "Ma"
4. Laughs and reacts to speech, possibly nodding in agreement or protest
Ninth month:
1. Worth it if you hold the handle
2. Self-play with toys
3. Specially throws and monitors the fall of
4. Able to fulfill simple requests "Give me a toy", "Give me a pen."
5. Pronunciation of sounds becomes doubled
Tenth month:
1. Playing with other kids
2. Repeats simple actions after adults. For example, "talking on the phone"
3. Says first words
4. Able to walk by himself holding onto a support
Eleventh month:
1. The so-called "pluck" grip appears: takes everything with two fingers
2. Able to stand independently
3. Reacts differently to acquaintances
4. Waving hands in greeting and farewell
Year:
1. Speaks 5 or more words
2. Knows the words “may”, “should not”, “do not touch” and understands their meaning
3. Fulfills simple requests. For example, show a toy, say something, kiss or hug
4. Able to play with toys for a long time
5. Responds to changes in the environment: he understands whether he was in a given place or not.
Thanks to the constant monitoring of the development of your child, according to the psychomotor calendar, you will be able to identify inhibition, normality or acceleration of development in the early stages. Remember that in case of a delay of more than a month in the psychomotor development of your child, you should immediately consult a doctor!
Motor development of an infant. Age 3-4 months
Evaluation of the neuro-psychological development of an infant is a very important component of the observation of children in the first year of life. This is due to the fact that a child at this age grows very quickly and all organs and systems bear an enormous load. In order not to miss the minimum possible deviations in motor development, parents need to have an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat you need to pay attention to in this period of life. In this article, we will give you a basic understanding of what skills a child develops first and what exercises can be done at home. nine0003
So, what skills do children usually show at 3-4 months?
At the age of 3 months, the baby, lying on his stomach, raises his upper body, leaning on bent arms, holds his head well, so you need to lay the baby on his stomach more often.
At 4 months, the baby is already rising on straightened arms, leaning only on the palms. It is important that the baby's hand is well opened, the fingers are straightened. To achieve this, clap your child's hands on your palms, on various hard surfaces. The child begins to “walk”, often smiles, begins to show interest in toys: he reaches for them, and by 4 months he already grabs and holds them. It is desirable that the rattles have a long rounded handle. nine0003
By the 3rd month, the physiological hypertonicity of the flexor muscles of the arms disappears, and then, by the 4th month of the legs. Limb movements become more precise. By four months, the baby turns on its own and needs only a little help from an adult.
The child's body is constantly growing and developing, so it reacts to massage differently than an adult. Due to the plasticity of the child's body, even the most insignificant, but systematic impact has an impact on the development of the child. Massage and physical education should begin from the first months of a child's life. Massage helps to increase body weight, improve skin turgor, normalize muscle tone, increase the range of motion in the joints, and improve the emotional state of the child. nine0003
Massage is divided into therapeutic, corrective and prophylactic. Preventive massage contributes to the full development of the child's body. Parents can do this massage on their own, after consulting a pediatrician. Therapeutic and corrective massage is prescribed by a pediatrician and performed only by a specialist.
Massage of all parts of the body should begin and end with stroking, which soothes the child and relaxes the muscles well.