Why Are Motor Skills Important?

Each child’s cognitive development is primarily based on their gross motor skills and as such both gross and fine motor skills are of vital importance to a child’s overall holistic development.

Motor skills literally help us move and do everything we do with our bodies. Motor development is about learning to move, control and coordinate the body. As children begin to develop control of their bodies, they begin to explore the world around them. This is why our Sensory Motor Development programme is a core focus at Nursery and Little Schools.

Motor control, skills and development begin developing soon after your child is born and continue to develop as your child grows. The most important years for a child’s motor development is between the ages of 0-3 and 3-6 years of age.

There are two categories of motor skills: Gross motor skills and Fine motor skills. Mastering both are important for your child’s growth and independence. Within our programme at Nursery and Little Schools we focus on developing these skills with your child to help prepare them for life long physical and academic learning.

Gross Motor Skills

Gross motor skills are about the ability to control the movements related to large muscles such as one’s arms, legs, and torso. They involve whole body movements, allowing children to coordinate the movement of these muscles as well as developing their physical strength and their ability to balance. Gross motor skills are a crucial part of a child’s development during the early years. The development of gross motor skills leads to the development of fine motor skills.

Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills are the coordination of small muscle movements with eyes, hands, wrists, and fingers. It is a complex skillset between our brains and muscles as well as coordination between our hands and eyes, all of which allow children to manipulate objects. This is known as hand-eye coordination. You can learn more about hand-eye coordination here.

Fine motor skills are crucial to the development of neural pathways in the brain. Some neurons involved in the processing of motor development are also involved with your child’s cognitive development. Research has shown that the connection between these two types of neurons can result in greater academic achievement for children.

“The understanding is that the stronger the motor skill development, the stronger the neuron connections which assist children in academic tasks, especially math.”

– Paula Glass

Research also shows us that if young children are not given the opportunity to participate in activities that cater to developing and extending both their gross and fine motor skills they are greatly hindered in their physical and academic growth. The more cognitive developing movement experiences a child has, the greater their academic head start.

At Nursery and Little Schools, our small group time activities along with our intentional areas of play ensure that we are continually providing opportunities for children to develop and enhance both gross and fine motor skills. We consistently and regularly receive multiple testimonies from impressed primary school teachers regarding the preparedness of our Little School children who have since transitioned to primary school.