Your child learns by playing. Physical activity helps him develop the skills to sit, walk, run and jump and carry out the smaller, finer motor activities he uses to speak, draw and write. He is programmed to enjoy action and his right to engage in play is enshrined in Article 31 of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lack of chances to play affects his muscle tone and strength, the quality and range of his movements and his eye-hand coordination.
Identification
As your child grows you can check that she meets sets of physical development milestones at the right ages. Noting these milestones helps you see that she develops as she should and gives you the opportunity to help her if things are not going well. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise you to keep an eye on her progress with large motor skills and fine motor development and seek help early if you are worried.
Some Milestones
Your baby's kicking and arm waving help his brain develop pathways between nerve cells. These are the keys to his physical skills, and he lays down connections rapidly until he is 12 years old. His play ranges from learning eye-hand coordination as he grasps his baby rattles, through developing balance when riding his tricycle to sophisticated fine motor juggling skills in later childhood.
Gross Motor Skills
Your baby learns to roll, twist and move across the floor to follow a ball. Standing and taking a few steps at around 12 months, she plays with push-along toys and at 2 years, pulls toys along behind her. Now she runs and helps with dressing herself and her dolls.
Your young child enjoys balancing on one leg to kick, catching first large then smaller balls and changing direction quickly and smoothly. His gross motor skills mature as he plays, with complex running, jumping and ball games, or tries martial arts, moving flexibly because his ligaments are not yet permanently fixed to his bones.
Fine Motor Skills
Your baby enjoys banging toys together, putting them in and out of containers and shaking rattles as she develops her fine motor skills. From 2 years onwards she manipulates puzzle pieces and, according to WholeFamily, learns to build towers of six blocks, string large beads and hold a crayon with straight fingers.
She needs opportunities for manipulative play, including cutting and sticking, building taller and more complex towers and houses, drawing people complete with faces and fingers and coloring between lines until she manages the skilled hand control of writing from 5 years of age onwards.
Senses
Your child needs to be able to concentrate so he can complete activities and benefit from them. He depends on his five senses. According to WholeFamily, over-sensitivity to touch can mean he dislikes messy play with sand or clay, missing opportunities to develop fine motor skills. Difficulty with vision, hearing, touch, taste or smell can impact on his physical achievement.
