There are 5 key motor skills that children need for school. These motor skills include:
- Visual tracking
- Core strength
- Crossing the midline
- Spatial awareness
- Shoulder stabilisation
The motor skill called visual tracking starts when a baby looks up at their caregiver during a feed.
Visual tracking is not only needed for communicating through eye contact, it is also needed for following the location of a moving object, dodging our friends running near us in the playground, and learning how to read.
We sometimes think that core strength is just being able to do sit-ups or hold the plank. But this is definitely not the case.
Core strength is about the muscles of the stomach, hips, gluteals, and back and each of these muscle groups' ability to hold the body upright in a range of different positions, against the force of gravity.
We need core strength to be able to sit on the floor at mat time without needing to lean or lay down.
We also need core strength to be able to sit up at the table and do fine motor skill activities.
Learn more about core strength here
did they swap hands? is the rainbow symmetrical? did they move their torso as well as their hand?
play balance
ball sports
personal space
transitioning from activity to activity in the classroom.
Shoulder stabilisation is the ability to keep our upper back (shoulder blade area) stable while moving our arms and hands freely.
Shoulder stabilisation is needed for fine motor skill development to be able to use a spoon without spilling our food, draw and write smoothly with a pencil, climb, crawl, swim, etc.
Improve children's shoulder stabilisation skills with these free gross motor skill activities