Transcript

Welcome to lesson 3! In this video, we will be talking about skills your child will develop in preschool. In lesson 2, you learned about the main components taught in preschool. 

While it is important to spend adequate time on those, it’s also important to make to sure and incorporate the following:

• gross motor skills

• fine motor skills

Gross motor skills are the abilities required to control the large muscles of the body for walking, jumping, skipping, and more. We learn from head to toe, starting as babies. Our upper body muscle control precedes the lower body muscle control. As babies grow, they first develop control in their trunk and then they grow in their control of their elbow, wrist, and fingers. The same goes for the lower body. Control from the hips is first, then control in the legs, feet, and toes. 

Next comes manipulation of toys with fingers and hands. Have you ever noticed that a child contorts their feet or tongue in the early days of drawing with a crayon? It’s because they are learning that new skill and it emerges from a near total body involvement. Lastly, we have the trend of showing preference to one side. For example, kids may start throwing a ball with either hand, but eventually they develop a preference in which hand they use to throw. Children generally experiment with both sides of the body until a preference is made. 

So what comes next? After they’ve gained control of their body, they start build up strength in their bodies. Preschoolers (ages 3-5) need lots of opportunities to practice movement! That’s how they learn and grow.

Gross motor movements are categorized into 3 ways: 

1. Locomotor activity — movement from one spot to another. Examples: walking, running, climbing, leaping, jumping, hopping, galloping, sliding, and skipping. 

2. Non locomotor activity — movement in a stationary place. Examples: pushing, pulling, bending, stretching, twisting, turning, swinging, swaying, rising, and falling. 

3. Manipulative skills — moving objects in a variety of ways. Examples: throwing, kicking, striking, and catching. Working on gross motor skills helps a child gain strength and confidence with their body. It also helps them get exercise and physical activity, which is important for a healthy lifestyle. 

Developing these skills helps a child’s ability to do more complex skills in future activities, such as playing soccer with a team. 

 Here’s a list of gross motor skills to work on: 

• runs (with good stamina) 

• skips 

• hops (on both feet and one foot) 

• gallops 

• leaps 

• jumps 

• somersaults 

• pedals and steers a tricycle 

• climbs a playground ladder 

• throws a ball with direction 

• catches a thrown ball with arms and body 

• bounces a ball 

Fine motor skills require the use of smaller muscle groups to perform tasks that are precise in nature. 

Here’s a list of what a Preschooler should work on:  

• stacks 10, one-inch blocks 

• strings beads 

• buttons 

• zips 

• snaps 

• laces

• grasps crayon and pencil correctly 

• completes a simple puzzle (7 pieces or more) 

• scissor skills 

• uses glue neatly 

• uses tweezers 

• completes a pattern 

• makes a pancake, snake, and ball from play dough 

• copies: vertical line, horizontal line, circle, cross, square, V, triangle 

• copies first name 

• prints first name without a model 

Playing with play dough is a great way to build up strength in the hand to perform fine motor skills. I recommend buying kid tweezers for kids to practice pinching small objects. Lacing is another great skill to work on. It can be frustrating for your child at first, but with practice they will improve. Stringing beads onto a pipe cleaner or string is also great for fine motor practice. Even tearing paper is a good activity for fine motor practice. Sometimes put sticky contact paper on the wall, draw the outline of a picture and have my little one tear paper and fill it in. Not only is this fun for him, he’s also practicing fine motor skills and doesn’t even realize it! 

Both of these motor skills work together to help us function throughout the day. You may wonder if spending time developing them is actual important. Yes, they will develop them eventually on their own, but I don’t think they are fully developed without some planned practice. I think the biggest reason to work on fine motor skill is that it directly impacts a child’s handwriting and cutting skills. In order to expect your child to write well, you need to focus on developing fine motor skills before ever asking your child to write. It is that important!