Gross motor skills are essential skills to be possessed by your child for overall body development. It is a need in order for the core muscles of the body to perform regular, day-to-day activities, like standing, strolling, running, and sitting up straight. It likewise incorporates eye-hand coordination, for example, in activities like tossing, catching and kicking of ball.
There are certain activities you can indulge your child in, which are scientifically proven to improve your child’s gross motor skills:
Probing: With sensory encounters all over the place, your child can adapt so much when given the opportunity to explore his general surroundings. Laying in the grass, picking dandelions or strolling on wood chips will help him figure out how to process various surfaces and sensations, and what feels good or bad to him.
Strolling on uneven surfaces: Walking on slopes and uneven surfaces can help develop strength and flexibility. Take your kid on a walk along the beach or in the woods. Such exercises can help build a good balance in your child’s motion.
Using the sidewalk chalk: Sidewalk chalk could be trickier than crayon and other coloring tools. It improves the hand motor skills of the child and improves flexibility. Sidewalk chalk is also used in popular games like "hopscotch" and "pursue the pioneer." These recreations will improve development and build perseverance
Choosing the right toys: 'Ribbon dancing sticks', 'jump ropes', 'hula hoops' etc are open-ended toys. These kinds of toys require your kid to use ceaseless movement and support bigger developments with the arms and trunk.
Riding a bicycle or a scooter: Riding a bicycle or a scooter will enable your kid to deal with coordination, continuance and general fortifying. The more coordinative exercises your kid takes up, the more vitality he will have for other movements.
Water Activities: Kids love water activities especially during the summer, and these activities inturn improve their gross motor skills. Indulging them in activities like filling a kids pool, or simply watering plants can help. There are also water toys available that can reinforce your kid's hand strength.
Team Sports & Games: A friendly game of soccer, Velcro ball and paddle or volley ball with your kid's friends will enable your him to create hand-eye and hand-feet coordination, and also build social skills. Playing in a team will also help your child learn the qualities of healthy social spirit and sportsmanship.
Outdoor Projects: You can challenge your child to limitless creativity only when you take the project outside. Lay enormous "full body" sheets of art paper or painting coverings down on the ground and fill paint container or pie tins with various shades of launderable finger paint. Urge your kid to paint as "large" as could be allowed, utilizing his hands, legs, feet, and body to paint as a great part of the canvas as he can. This action urges him to utilize his real muscle strength, reach and move his body from multiple points.
Yard Projects: Give your kid a chance to assist you with work in the yard. He can help with planting or pulling weeds. He can help in the cleaning task by gathering sticks or tidying leaves. Whenever he needs to bend down and lift something up, he is fortifying his legs and improving motor skills.
A Playground Visit: Taking your kid to the play area is an extraordinary method to draw in his various gross motor abilities. Climbing or holding tight to play equipment challenges numerous muscles effectively. Swinging on a swing set gives tactile incitement and moves the vestibular framework concerning balance. Most play area equipment is set up on different leaves, requiring your kid to connect with his feeling of profundity observation and spatial mindfulness.
The right development of your child's gross motor skills is utmost important in not only building physical strength but also in gaining confidence. As a parent, you should pay attention during the growth years of your child and indulge him/her in the above-listed set of activities. Building necessary skills at the right age is what will help shape a bright future for your child.