Motor skills are movements and actions of the muscles. They are divided in two categories that of Fine motor skills and Gross motor skills.
Gross motor skills require usage of large muscle groups to perform tasks like walking, running, dancing, etc. Fine motor skills require usage of small muscle groups such as hand movement, wrist movement, etc. Both these skills help improve the daily functioning of the child.
It is important that your child develops both these motor skills properly. However, daily functioning is hampered specifically much more if the child is lacking on gross motor skills as it involves the movement of big muscles and that can cause hindrance in walking, running or even balancing the body well. It is beneficial for the child to be involved in the gross motor activities to improve the muscle build up in their bodies. Some of these gross motor skills activities can be as follows:
Obstacle Courses
Obstacle course is by far the easiest and most engaging activity for the children. You can be as creative as you like and build up as many imaginary stories as you like to motivate your child to complete the obstacle course. Obstacle course involved building a path that has many ups and downs and involved the child to be climbing, hopping, dragging, jumping to complete the path set. You can help your child build the story where a dragon is about to fire the whole village and he has to run away from the dragon without touching the obstacles as they have bombs and can explode! Make it fun and as interesting as you can.
Dancing
One of the most engaging gross motor skills activities is that of dancing. Children love to dance along to any music they hear. They try their hardest to be able to copy the dance steps they see on the video. Their bodies are so fragile and flexible that they are able to do most of the steps they see. This helps ensure that they are moving most of their body parts and getting all the exercise that is necessary. Dancing also helps in exerting the excessive energy that your little one might have sitting at home. It also improves their body balance as dance involves moves where they have to balance their bodies often on one leg to another.
Hopscotch
Hopscotch is an easy game that requires your child to be jumping from one box to another. This is another game where you can be creative. Make boxes with numbers indicating the next step as the next number or you can also make footprints and handprints to indicate which foot is supposed to be next. Make it in a straight line or make it wavy. Make it in a circle or cover your whole backyard with a hopscotch path. All you need is a marker or chalk, and you have your child hopping and jumping all afternoon. It is highly beneficial for balance and coordination.]
Bicycles, Tricycles, Scooters or Pedal Cars
Bicycles are a great way for children to learn how to balance not only their bodies but also the weight of their body on an object. This helps them to understand how they extend their body balance to the object around them. Pedaling also helps children develop circular movement in their legs. It is very beneficial for their thigh muscles and lower abdomen. It also improves their lung power and increases stamina. Once your child learns to ride a cycle, you can also make it challenging by putting up an obstacle course to keep things more interesting. Or maybe buy one bicycle for yourself and get ready to race!
Balloon and Bubble play
Balloons are also a fun way to engage your child. It is so light in weight and moves around with the wind which is a great way to have your child engaged in without putting much effort on your end. Make sure you use lots of different sizes, shapes and colors of balloons to keep them entertained. You can simply ask them to separate all the different colors or collect one color balloons. You can also ask them to make territories and make sure to destroy the balloons from the other side. This will definitely keep them engaged for a longer time. Bubble sprays look very fascinating and beautiful to the eyes. Children love to be showered by it and like to follow and move around with them. It is a good activity to brighten the mood as well.
Trampolines
Installing a small trampoline in the house can also be very beneficial for the children. It naturally pushes the children to jump where they are standing. The light push on the trampoline surface gives them a boost to jump even higher. This ensures that there is a lot of jumping with minimum effort but maximum exercise and lots of fun!
All these activities can be easily conducted at home in the hallways or parking area or even a small garden. You just have to creative and put a little effort to make sure your children are engaged both physically and stimulated mentally for an overall development.
Written By :- Ms. Yashna David, Student Counselor, MRIS, Noida
