As a child matures, we are able to see the important milestones they go through which represents a part of physical development. The maturation process happens in an orderly manner; that is, certain skills and abilities generally occur before other milestones are reached.
Motor Skill Development
During a child's early development years, the nervous system matures. The child becomes more capable of performing complex actions. Parents and caregivers frequently worry whether or not their child is developing these skills at a normal rate. Reality is that rates may vary somewhat. Although, nearly all children begin to exhibit these motor skills at a fairly consistent rate, some type of disability is present.
There are two types of motor skills:
Motor Skill Development
During a child's early development years, the nervous system matures. The child becomes more capable of performing complex actions. Parents and caregivers frequently worry whether or not their child is developing these skills at a normal rate. Reality is that rates may vary somewhat. Although, nearly all children begin to exhibit these motor skills at a fairly consistent rate, some type of disability is present.
There are two types of motor skills:
- Gross motor skills are larger movements your baby makes with his arms, legs, or feet, or his entire body. When evaluating gross motor skills, the factors that experts look at include strength, muscle tone, movement quality and the range of movement So crawling, running and jumping.
- Fine motor skills are small movements which involve the smaller muscles
in the fingers, toes, eyes and other areas such as picking up small objects and holding a spoon; that use the small muscles of the fingers, toes, wrists, lips, and tongue.
Physical Growth
Physical development in children follows a directional pattern:
Large muscles develop before small muscles. Muscles in the body's core, legs and arms develop before those in the fingers and hands. Children learn how to perform gross (or large) motor skills such as walking before they learn to perform fine (or small) motor skills such as drawing.
The center of the body develops before the outer regions. Muscles located at the core of the body become stronger and develop sooner than those in the feet and hands.
Development goes from the top down, from the head to the toes.
This is why babies learn to hold their heads up before they learn how to crawl.
Physical development in children follows a directional pattern:
Large muscles develop before small muscles. Muscles in the body's core, legs and arms develop before those in the fingers and hands. Children learn how to perform gross (or large) motor skills such as walking before they learn to perform fine (or small) motor skills such as drawing.
The center of the body develops before the outer regions. Muscles located at the core of the body become stronger and develop sooner than those in the feet and hands.
Development goes from the top down, from the head to the toes.
This is why babies learn to hold their heads up before they learn how to crawl.