Supporting Your Child’s Motor Skills Development
Mastering both fine and gross motor skills is an extremely important step in your child’s development. Fine motor skills involve the use of small muscles in our hands, fingers, wrists, and toes, while gross motor skills involve larger movements using the muscles in our arms, legs, torso, and feet.
We use fine motor skills countless times each day, from brushing our teeth to holding objects in our hands. Gross motor skills are essential for activities such as crawling, walking, running, and jumping. If it feels like your child is struggling with either of these skill sets, it’s easy to become anxious and overwhelmed. The good news is there are many ways you can improve your child’s motor skills with the help of occupational and physical therapists.
At PediPlay in Indianapolis, IN, we are committed to helping your family and equipping your child with the tools they need to fully participate and enjoy daily activities. Contact your doctor for a therapy referral if you believe your child would benefit from a therapy evaluation to assess their motor skills.
What activities can my child expect to work on in therapy to target motor skills?
Your child will have an initial evaluation with an occupational or physical therapist. This will help the therapist assess your child’s current motor skills and pinpoint what challenges they may be having. From there, your child’s therapist will create an individualized treatment plan designed to address your child’s needs. The treatment plan may include a variety of exercises that focus on strength development, coordination and motor planning. You may also be asked to help your child complete some activities and movement patterns at home, in between sessions. This can help your child progress through their treatment plan faster and achieve better results in sessions.
Examples of activities within your child’s treatment plan may include play tasks or exercises to help with: strengthening hand muscles, improving hand-eye coordination, increasing grip strength, improving core strength and balance, and improving coordination of muscles for large motor movements (walking, running, jumping, etc.), and so forth
Examples of exercises in your child’s treatment plan:
Fine Motor Skills:
- Bilateral activities such as coloring in simple shapes and playing with legos and blocks.
- Activities that promote hand strength such as popping bubble wrap and playing with play dough.
- Playing catch with a light ball to help improve hand-eye coordination.
- Cutting along lines and transferring stickers from a sticker book to help improve grasping skills.
Gross Motor Skills:
- Basic muscle movements such as lifting their head and putting weight on their arms and legs.
- Coordination exercises to help them roll over and begin to crawl.
- Activities to support walking, running, and jumping skills.
Our therapy team will also take into consideration a variety of factors that may be affecting your child’s motor development. Our therapists have experience treating children with neurological impairments, developmental coordination disorders,
sensory processing difficulties, dyspraxia, and much more.
Common Reasons for Pediatric Therapy
- Delayed milestones
- Coordination delays
- Difficulty completing school activities
- Abnormal muscle tone
- Difficulty completing daily activities
If you have concerns about your child’s motor skills, our team of therapists is here to help. We understand that early assessment of developmental delays is crucial. After a referral is received from your doctor, our therapists will evaluate your child in order to assess their baseline and determine the best plan of care for therapy.
Ready to begin your therapy journey?
If you feel that your child could benefit from a therapy evaluation, please reach out to your doctor to discuss a potential referral for therapy services. Contact our clinic for more information or if you have any questions about this process.