As your baby emerges from infancy and begins the trek toward being a full-fledged toddler, she continues a process of physical development. Physical development includes gross motor skills, such as rolling over, crawling, walking, running and jumping. Physical development also includes fine motor skills that require eye-hand coordination for drawing, coloring, holding a pencil, putting a puzzle together and using building blocks or construction toys.You can provide many opportunities to promote physical development so your child can reach these milestones.
Promoting Gross Motor Development
Step 1
Play ball. You can start this activity as soon as your child is able to sit up. Begin by rolling a large ball back and forth, then progress to gently tossing it up in the air and catching it. As your child gets older, teach him a simple game of kick ball that incorporates rolling, tossing and kicking. Playing ball promotes balance, major muscle coordination, spatial orientation, and laterality, which is an awareness of the left and right sides of his body.
Step 2
Use an action game called “Simon Says” to introduce gross motor skills that include spatial orientation, laterality and balance. Promote spatial orientation by telling your child “Simon says” followed by an instruction, for example, to stand in front of, behind, on the side of or under a chair. Promote laterality with instructions to lift different body parts on the left and right sides. Work on balance with instructions to balance on one leg.
Step 3
Sing action songs, such as “The Farmer in the Dell.” As you sing about different animals on the farm, imitate their movements by waddling, hopping, crawling and galloping. These actions promote balance and major muscle coordination.
Step 4
Ride a bike. Start with a ride-on toy your child moves by pushing with her feet, and as her age and skill level progress, work up to a pedal bike with training wheels and then without them. The skills required to ride a bike involve every aspect of gross motor development.
Promoting Fine Motor Development
Step 1
Get some play dough. Teach your child to first roll it into a ball and then progress to making figures such as people and animals. Manipulating play dough teaches eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity, which is the ability to make the hands and fingers work together, and tactile perception, which is the transferring of information from the fingers to the brain.
Step 2
Play guessing games. Instruct your child to close her eyes and then give her objects to identify by touch. This promotes a fine motor skill called stereognosis, which is recognition through touch.
Step 3
Draw and color pictures. Start with simple shapes and lines on a large sheet of paper and progress to coloring books when your child is ready. Make this activity even more beneficial by taping paper to the wall or by using an easel. Working with the wrist in an upright position strengthens hand muscles. In addition, using a pencil or crayon promotes eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity, and ocular motor control, which is the ability of the eye to focus on and follow an object.
Things You'll Need
- Gross Motor Development:
- Bouncing balls
- Ride-on toy
- Pedal bike
- Training wheels
- Chair
- Fine Motor Development:
- Playdough
- Crayons
- Pencil
- Paper
- Coloring books
- Touch identification objects
