Children Need to Move

Gross Motor Development in Preschoolers

Good gross motor (large muscle) skills help your preschool age child in several ways. When a young child has good control of her body, she feels confident to explore new ways to move, take risks and try more complex activities. This confidence and competence allows the child to enjoy interacting with other young children as they run, jump, hop, climb and play tag together. Throwing and aiming objects at targets and catching objects helps to increase eye-hand coordination that is helpful later in writing and reading tasks. Physical activities also provide an outlet for boundless energy and a release for tension and stress. Challenging a child with questions about movement can encourage problem-solving skills. For example ask, “How many ways can you move across the room without using your feet?”

Gross motor experiences that preschoolers need:

• Opportunities to throw balls and beanbags harder and further, in different directions and at targets of varied heights and sizes.
• Challenges to count the number of times they can bounce a ball, jump up and down, or hit a balloon into the air.
• Practice catching balls and beanbags by themselves and with a partner.
• Opportunities to balance on different surfaces that are of varied widths and heights.
• Adults to suggest images to imitate such as animals, vehicles, or machinery. For example, suggest that your child hop like a bunny or spin like the washing machine.
• Opportunities to throw or roll at a target.
• Opportunities to jump in different directions, over safe objects, down from surfaces that are safe heights and up onto sturdy surfaces.

You can help by being aware of the following:

• Activities should be enjoyable.
• Your child should experience success before moving on to more difficult movement challenges.
• Your enthusiasm and not your skill level is what is most important.
• Opportunities for repeated practice are important.
• Encourage a reluctant child or one who is having difficulty with a particular skill by modeling the skill for them. Show them how to catch a ball or roll it at a target. If you miss, use the opportunity to show them that making a mistake is OK.