Promoting Child Development Series Part - 2, Motor Skills in brief

Promoting Child Development Series Part - 2, Motor Skills in brief

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

From birth to the end of the first year of life,

major changes occur in the infant’s gross

motor skills. As tone, strength, and coordination

improve sequentially from head to heel,

the infant attains head control, rolls, sits,

crawls, pulls to stand, cruises, and may even

walk by 1 year of age. Delays in gross motor

milestones, asymmetry of movement, or muscle

hypertonia or hypotonia should be identified

and evaluated for early intervention

referrals. it is important to promote

age-appropriate and safe opportunities for

tummy-time play to allow young infants to

master their early motor skills.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills

also change dramatically during infancy.

These abilities progress from reflexive

grasping to voluntary grasp and release, midline

play, transferring an object from one

hand to the other, shaping the hand to an

object, inferior then superior pincer grasp,

using the fingers to point, self-feeding, and

even marking with a crayon by 1 year of age.

Babies should be given opportunities to play

with toys and food to advance their fine

motor skills.