Early Childhood: Motor Development

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.