The child's motor development and otherwise motor development of the childis the process of the child acquiring new motor skills. We can divide it into two areas: gross motor skills and fine motor skills.
Large motor skills refers to global whole-body movements involving large muscle groups (e.g. foursquare, running, playing ball, cycling).
Small motor skills is the motor skills of the hands in terms of the speed of movements, their precision and the manual actions necessary for self-care, drawing and writing (cf. M. Bogdanowicz and A. Adryjanek, 2009).
Why is gross motor skills a huge influence on a child's psychomotor development?
nurturing the appropriate development of large motor skills is crucial for the proper development of the child, including small motor skills. It is important to remember that a child develops the large muscle groups first, and only later the small ones. So gross motor skills are the basis for the development of fine motor skills.
It is essential to build a stable and strong centre so that the child is better able to perform more precise and detailed tasks. A person who, for example, has difficulty standing on one foot or climbing a ladder will find it difficult to colour a picture or write accurately.
So how do you support your child's motor development at home?
In the following article, I will mainly focus on the development of gross motor skills in the first year of a child's life. As I mentioned earlier - it is the basis for the development of fine motor skills, so it is what we should focus on first.
Let's start with the fact that there is no single golden way to support each child's motor development. First and foremost, it depends on the age of our child, besides which it is always necessary to approach the subject individually - to look at the specific difficulties and problems he or she faces.
However, I will give you a few pointers with which you can confidently support child development.
Good baby care
In the first months of life, the key is proper baby care. It includes appropriate lifting, putting down and carrying in age-appropriate positions.
It is therefore worth checking which paediatric physiotherapist runs care instructions, and sign up for such an appointment - it is a concrete help with daily care activities.
In my experience, parents learning this on their own from the internet, often make mistakes. As a result, instead of supporting the development of the toddler, they generate additional abnormalities requiring later therapy.
Suitable substrate
Equally important, spending time on a hard surface e.g. on a mat.
In addition to proper nursing, it is very important that the baby spends most of the day on the floor - on a mat, as much as possible on the stomach.
This position creates the right conditions for proper motor development, strengthens the muscular corset, supports bowel function and reduces possible head deformities.
Back-to-belly rotations and pivots
Around 5-6 months of age it is a good idea to stimulate the child to turn from back to stomach by both sides. For this purpose, various toys will work well to encourage the toddler to turn and assume the tummy position on his own.
In this position, we can also begin to encourage the baby to do what are known as pivots, or rotations on the abdomen - clockwise or counterclockwise, remembering to stimulate them in both directions.
Take a look at the blog and find out what are pivots!
Crawling and quadrupling
When the child has mastered rotationit is worth encouraging them to move forward - creep. By putting toys a little further away than he can reach, we are forcing him to try to move. If the toddler starts to get angry after a while, unable to reach the toy, let's give him a moment to try on his own, but don't drag it out indefinitely - you don't want to make him cry.
It may happen that the child misses the crawling stage and starts to foursquare. There is nothing wrong with this. Both crawling and quadruping should be alternating and symmetrical.
It is a complex motor skill that has tremendous influence on the development of the child's nervous system and supports the cooperation of both brain hemispheres.
When the child will start to crawl The most simple one is our feet. The simplest one may be our legs. Placing the straightened legs in the way of the toddler will force him to climb over them and will stimulate him to get into a higher position - on all fours.
Sitting
The next stage is children sitting down. I do not recommend forcibly seating children, putting pillows on them, etc. It is best to wait until the child has achieved this skill on his own. However, there is nothing stopping you from sitting your baby on your lap, maintaining a correct, symmetrical position.
It is important to provide at least minimal support for the baby's back by slightly tilting the baby's body backwards or to the side. If we want to stimulate a sit-up, this can be done by teaching transfer to this position by lifting the baby appropriately. But - as I mentioned earlier - in learning how to care for it, the help of a specialist/teacher is essential, such as paediatric physiotherapist.
Stand up
Verticalisation, i.e. getting children up, should run through a kneel and then a one-legged kneel. It is worth noting whether the child does this with both legs and whether the foot, knee and hip are aligned.
If not - correct the positioning of the lower limb. If the toddler only stands up with one leg, try to get the other leg into a one-legged kneeling position during this movement. Yes, I know - you have to be very quick and this is not always easy.
Motor development of the child and learning to walk
The final issue to be discussed is motor development of the child and walking.
Before a child begins to walk independently, sideways walking next to furniture should occur. This is an extremely important activity because the arches of the foot are formed during this, it prevents flat feet.
Don't lead your little ones by the hands or put them in walkers - this can do more harm than good.
Encourage children to walk sideways in both directions and remember that have until the age of 18 months to start walking independently.
If your little one is approaching this limit and still shows no desire to walk - it is worth seeing a specialist such as a paediatric physiotherapistwhich will support him in learning this important skill.
Support your child's motor development through play
Motor skills and their proper stimulation are crucial for the proper development of a child. The role of parents in this process cannot be overestimated - so let us support development of gross motor skills in our children at every stage of their lives, especially in this first, most important period. In this way, we will give children a good start for the future.
Let's play with them, exercise together, spend active time. This will result in well-being (ours and the child's), building a strong bond, beautiful childhood memories and great fun.
Paediatric physiotherapist
