Question

How do gross motor skills improve as children age? How does Olivia's attempt to catch a ball illustrate the proximodistal trend in motor development?

Answer 1

1. Gross motor skills and age

Physical skills or motor skills, which require whole body movement and large muscles involvement, are called gross motor skills. For example: walking, running, jumping etc.

( fine motor skills are actions that require smaller muscle involvement. example: picking things up with fingers)

Brain in a newborn baby is not matured enough to control the motor movements, which are gross or fine. Gross motor development happens as the child's motor learning increases. As the child grow,they develop the ability to contro the body and the gross motor development happens in a head- to-toe direction. The infants slowly start to hold the head or learn head control, after that they start to stabilise body control, then sitting, standing up, walking etc. Gross motor skill development happens asa result of physical development( muscle strength) and development of large muscle coordination.

2.Proximodistal trend in motor development

Children's developmental pattern follow proximodistal direction or center to extremities. Growth starts first at center of the body then towards the extremities. Example: development of muscular control of the body before developing the control of hands and fingers.

Catching a ball by a small child indicates the pattern of proximo distal pattern of motor development. The child try to catch the ball by whole arm ( by traping the ball with hands against his chest), especially toddlers. Slowly the musclar control and development of hands and motor coordination enable them to catch the ball. Then only they start to catch the ball by hands. This indicates that muscle coordination or developmental pattern has a proximo distal direction ( center of the body to extremities).

3. Individual variation among children of the same age in developing motor skills:

There are individual variations or individual differences in the gross motor development of children. The milestone development and the specific age of achieving mile stones may vary in children to children. Some children hit the milestones little early than other kids of the same age. For example: some children walk smoothly, start to run at the age of one and half years itself, some children only at the age of 2 years. Every children development is at different rates

4. Gross motor skills in same age boys and girls

Gender difference in Gross motor development is not so evident in infants and toddlers. Boys and girls achieve the developmental milestones almost at the same age. Gross motor skills such as walking, running, jumping etc develop slightly faster in boys in comparing with the same age girls at during their preschool age. Whereas girl's fine motor skills such as holding small items, writing, cutting with scissors , develop faster than boys at the same age ,during pre school years.