Importance of Motor Skills in Child Development
Having a kid is perhaps the most joyful experience of all time and as soon as you hug your tiny bundle of joy. You are continuously concerned about what is best for your precious child. Every choice you make for your child—whether it's good or bad—is well researched by you.
In this essay, we'll guide you through one of the most crucial abilities in your child's growth, i.e., motor skills. So, dear mommies & daddies, strap up and continue reading!
What are Motor Skills?
It involves using the muscles precisely with the help of the brain and nervous system.
Put another way, it's the body's capacity for effective movement control!
Examples of motor abilities include the person holding a pencil, walking, or balancing on one leg.
There are two types of motor skills:
Fine motor skills – involves the use of smaller muscles of the hand
Gross motor skills – involve the use of large muscles in the arms, legs, and torso
Why are Motor Skills Necessary?
Your baby's motor skills are crucial since they define their physical strength and ease of movement. Furthermore, your infant will benefit from having such abilities throughout their life.
Your youngster may experience something new every day while also gaining independence. Motor skills are essential because:
Participation – Good motor skills help them to participate in various activities. Teaching your child how to throw a ball enables them to play with other children. They will develop their social skills in this manner as well.
Confidence – Children with good motor skills generally have greater self-confidence. Young children often get their confidence from being physically active and be able to do most of fun activities
Motivation – Such youngsters are typically more driven to do their tasks well when they have excellent self-confidence. They relish difficulties and take on each one head-on. They are prepared for any obstacles because they are confident in their ability to overcome them.
Good speech – By strengthening the muscles around the jaw and tongue, children with good motor skills are often very good at pronouncing different words from a young age.
Get complex tasks done – Such children can often do challenging tasks like dressing themselves up or using the toilet from an early age. All thanks to their amazing moms helping them develop motor skills from a young age.
More active – These children have been encouraged to move around since they were small. Such kids are often more engaged and love to do various physical activities.
It allows them to be fitter and gives them a lot of health benefits.
Doctors today put a lot of emphasis on the need to assist your child in developing motor skills from the very beginning. Children who don't have strong motor skills may eventually suffer from poor self-esteem since they won't feel as though they are on the same level as other kids. At every age, several techniques help your child improve their motor skills.
Motor Development at Every Age
Children need to learn different motor skills at every age.
3 – 18 Months
Good development of motor skills by the age of 3-18 months include:
Squeezing toys
Clapping of the hands
Sipping on a straw or suckling the bottle/pacifier
Starts to babble
The use of mouth to explore different textures of objects around
Bringing hands to mouth
Following movements with their eyes
Crawling/ use of arms and legs for moving around
Grasping things with their hands
How to help your baby develop motor skills at this age?
The babies still have a lot to learn at this age. A few things you could do are:
Offer your baby a toy or object to encourage them to hold on to it
Practicing tummy time
Placing toys within the baby's reach to enable them to hold it by using their legs
Make them stand up and offer the use of their legs with or without your support
Avoid putting them too much time in seats
Let them explore by placing a sheet on the floor and objects around the baby
Take them to a park and let them observe
Talk to your baby and wait for them to talk back to you
18 – 36 Months
By the age of 18 to 36 months, good motor skill concept involves around:
Turning doorknobs
Handing scissors
Puzzles
Eating chopped foods
Blowing bubbles
Drinking from cups
Painting
Self-feeding
Perfectly locating objects with eyes
Running/walking
Good pencil grip
How to help your child develop motor skills at this age?
We believe two years is the optimum age for children to be accepted into Preschool. They receive expert instruction in correct motor skills at that age and learn how to interact with others their age.
We recommend searching for the best French Preschool or bilingual preschools near your area. Preschools are beneficial because children learn to do the following:
Playing
Socializing
Learn and observe
Understand how to communicate
Meet their age group
Work on skills
Now you may wonder if they can learn the same at home but remember, your children will also learn to:
Learn to help other kids around them
Connect with other kids
Play games and explore along with their friends
Will develop independence to do things alone
Preschools are excellent for assisting children in developing practical life skills, especially those taught by specialists.
Conclusion
We have already touched on some specifics about the child's motor skills development significance.
We discussed what you should do to support your child's motor skill development. While mothers do their best, we advise allowing specialists to assist. Allowing your children to attend the top Preschool in Brooklyn is always a superb decision. By enrolling in the best Preschool in Brooklyn, your kid will have qualified instructors who will support their development in every manner and at the appropriate age.
Indeed, raising a kid is a difficult task that calls for the parents to conduct an extensive study. This work is complex, demanding, and never offers you a day off. When you see your children succeeding in every manner, it will all be worthwhile.