Three year olds have
________the highest activity level of any age in the life span.
Motor coordination in childhood tends to be
________ a relatively stable trait over time.
Poor motor coordination has been associated with
________an increased risk of obesity or overweight in children in what is likely to be a reciprocal relationship.
Gains in fine motor skills allow
________young children to take more responsibility.
Upper and lower-body skills
combine into more refined actions
An active body makes for
an active brain
Self help skills: at age 3,
children show a more mature ability to place and handle things than they did as infants.
Fine motor skills: at age 3,
children show a more mature ability to place and handle things than they did as infants.
Self help skills: at age 4-5,
dress and undress without supervision
Fine motor skills: at age 5,
hand, arm, and body all move together under better command of the eye; and the child seeks more complex activities.
Fine motor skills: at age 4,
coordination is improved and more precise.
Self help skills: by age 4,
adept with a fork
Self help skills: by age 5,
can use a knife to cut soft foods
Motor skills do not develop in
isolation
The skills that emerge in early childhood build on
the achievements of infancy and toddlerhood.
Motor coordination has also been associated with
both childhood and adolescent levels of physical activity.
As children’s bodies become less top-heavy,
their center of gravity shifts downward
Changes in ball-throwing and catching skills illustrate
preschoolers’ gross-motor progress
Preschoolers motor capabilities
greatly advance, more coordinated, integrated
Gross motor skills: at age 5
runs hard, more adventurous, may try ‘daredevil’ stunts
Gross motor skills: at age 4
become more adventurous and begin climbing down as well as up.
Gross motor skills: at age 3
enjoy simple movements such as hopping, jumping, and running back and forth.