Motor skills: influence on child development

Motor skills: what is it?

Motor skills, i.e. a person’s ability to move, influence most of their activities. Every simple movement is made possible by a finely tuned interaction of specific muscles, controlled by complex processes in the brain. Every movement has to be learned and practiced. Motor skills include:

• endurance and condition
• power and power dosing
• agility
• coordination and body control
• speed and responsiveness
• balance

development of motor skills

Children’s motor skills develop through maturation, learning and experience processes. In infancy, maturation in particular determines the development of motor skills. This means that at a certain time, human skills, such as sitting or crawling, are learned. The children learn these themselves – each at their own pace. That is why only rough time windows and no exact dates can be set when a child typically learns to stand or walk. Nevertheless, the development of motor skills can be promoted in a playful way, for example by using play arches .

The older the child gets, the more important the learning and experience processes become for the development of motor skills. How well a child of kindergarten or primary school age is developed in the area of ​​motor skills depends on how much opportunity it gets to exercise and how varied the range of exercise is. You can read more about the development of children’s motor skills in our articles on the milestones of child development .

Developmental steps in motor skills

When children are born, they are initially busy learning basic gross motor forms of movement, such as crawling, running, hopping, climbing, etc. The development of fine motor skills builds on gross motor development. This means that a child can only learn fine motor skills if they have previously acquired sufficient gross motor skills. If a child has had too little gross motor movement experience, for example if it cannot stand on one leg or balance, it will usually also have problems with fine motor tasks later on. Children whose motor skills are developing normally and who do not have a motor disorder usually progress through the following developmental steps:

• Before birth: The development of a child’s motor skills begins in the womb, where reflexes and spontaneous movements develop. The child can yawn and kick.
• Four weeks: At this age, children typically learn to lift their chin and look around when they are in a prone position. Knees and legs are slowly getting stronger.
• Two months: The child learns to lie on his stomach, raising his chest and shoulders while supporting himself on his arms.
• Four months: Baby’s movements become more focused. It learns to turn.
• Five months: Children can sit with support.
• Six months: The child learns to sit alone and to hold his bottle in both hands.
• Seven months: Babies at this age begin to crawl. The child pulls himself forward with his arms and his legs behind.
• Ten months: Baby’s motor skills have developed to the point of crawling.
• Eleven to twelve months: With support, the child can take its first steps.
• 13 to 15 months: The child’s motor skills develop and the child learns to stand alone and take a few steps.
• 15 months to three years: The child learns to walk upright and practices many other movement sequences. Thanks to the further development of motor skills, the child can perform many movements faster and more powerfully. It learns to run.
• Three to six years: At kindergarten age, the child learns more and more complex movement sequences, such as climbing stairs with changing feet, standing on one leg, balancing, throwing and catching a ball and much more.
• Six to eleven years: At primary school age, a child learns many fine motor skills, such as writing and drawing. It can now coordinate perception and movement much better.
• 12 to 18 years: In adolescence, motor skills continue to develop because the body builds muscle strength during this time. Body control is also getting better and better.

Influence of motor skills on child development

Motor skills and their development influence many areas of your child’s life and their overall development. For example, a child with restricted motor development may find it difficult to develop a positive self-image, which in turn may strain their relationships with those around them. The following areas are related to motor skills:

• Social Development: Interaction with others and relationships with fellow human beings are also dependent on motor skills. If a child cannot keep up with their peers in terms of motor skills, they are quickly excluded or avoid situations in which they have to be physically active.
• Physical development: The bones, muscles and nervous system can only develop normally with enough exercise.
• Cognitive development: The ability to learn and the ability to think are significantly higher when a child moves a lot and its motor skills are well developed. Responsiveness also improves significantly.
• Sensory development: Sensory, i.e. sensual perception, can only develop normally if a child has enough movement. Visual perception improves, for example, because children have to orientate themselves spatially when running. Running on different surfaces improves tactile perception.
• Emotional and psychological development: Children whose motor skills are well developed are also emotionally more stable than children who have motor deficits. They have a better self-image, more confidence and are less anxious.
• Language development: Language development is also dependent on motor skills processes. If the speech movements cannot be performed correctly, a child cannot learn to speak correctly. In addition, children who move a lot can concentrate better and are more receptive.

Promotion of motor skills

The motor skills of children can be supported primarily by giving them the opportunity to move independently and according to their level of development. This means that you can support your child’s development simply by giving them freedom, time and space to move. Let them try and explore things undisturbed and don’t suppress your child’s natural urge to explore. It also doesn’t help him if you remove all obstacles out of the way, for example to make it easier for your child to crawl. Because then it cannot learn to overcome obstacles.

You cannot force your baby to take certain motor development steps. Because every child develops at their own pace. You can only encourage your child’s motor skills by enabling movement. Stimulation and the participation of adults also motivate children to move. Even if you do a lot of sport yourself as a role model, your child will probably do the same. Let your child try different sports, for example swimming, judo, gymnastics, athletics or ball sports.

The older your child gets, the greater the range of exercise should be. Your child can jump rope, play badminton, learn to ride a bike or roller skate to improve their motor skills. Because the more diverse the movement experiences are in everyday life, at school and in kindergarten or in a sports club, the better the motor skills of the child develop. The promotion in the area of ​​motor skills should also be playful and not according to a strict training plan. This is how you can teach your child to enjoy movement.