Why Are Gross Motor Skills Important?

Gross motor skills use legs, arms, and torso to perform everyday functions, such as walking, running, jumping, and sitting as well as activities that require hand-eye coordination like throwing and catching, kicking, swimming, or riding a bike. The transferability of gross motor skills can be seen in essential self-care skills. To more holistically assess kindergarten-readiness skills, independent schools and teachers are broadly evaluating a child’s gross motor skills. Here’s what we’re looking for:

Balance

• Bilateral integration

• Body awareness

• Crossing Midline

• Hand-eye coordination

• Eye-foot coordination

• Muscle strength

• Muscle endurance

• Postural control

To help gauge your child’s readiness, start incorporating some of these organic, fun games below:

1. Play “Simon Says” and incorporate instructions to jump, hope on one foot, leap, skip, and

make “snow angels.”

2. Take turns acting like different animals using your entire body (e.g., kangaroo, snake, gorilla).

3. Set up a low balance beam with a board and have your child walk across it while using their

arms to balance.

4. Create a silly obstacle course in which your child has to crawl under and climb over things,

skip, run, swing, etc.

5. Roll, kick or toss large rubber balls with your child for the duration of a song you sing

together.

6. Explore naturally on slightly bumpy an uneven terrain to improve balance, strength, muscle

tone, and endurance.

7. Think old-school P.E. class and incorporate activities that include jump ropes, hula hoops,

hurdles, or even a game of dodgeball played with rolled-up socks instead of a ball!

8. Dancing is a simple, free way to engage a variety of muscles and boost balance, and you can

start with a quick YouTube search for the Hokey Pokey, the Macarena, The Chicken Dance, or

the ever-popular Baby Shark Dance. (Be forewarned: these songs may get stuck in your head all

day!)

9. Teach your child how to ride something with wheels: a tricycle, a bike, a skateboard, or roller

skates.

10. Break out the sidewalk chalk and teach your little one how to play hopscotch or let them

create their own obstacle course to walk, jump, or skip through.

Although most kids will develop gross motor skills organically through regular play and

exploration, engaging them in these activities can help strengthen these vital skills in ways that

simply feel like fun! 

Source: LearningRX, Susie McDaniel