By Lea Saguisag Jusi30-year-old Sally Cu shares her 22-month-old son’s story. “Based on a Chinese rhyme, if the baby can't walk at 12 months, he would be able to walk at 19 months. But at 19 months of age, my baby still did not walk. We consulted his pediatrician but she told us to just wait because our baby has his own timetable and most of the time, baby boys are delayed in their development.”
With the doctor’s assurance, Sally didn’t worry much. “I think it was more because of his personality. Mackenzie is very careful in everything he does. He checks on furniture if it is stable to hold on to before cruising. He doesn't want to experience a bad fall. We guided him through his walk patiently until he was confident to let go. Cheers also boosted his confidence. Now he walks well on his own.”
As parents, we are constantly on the lookout for our children’s developmental milestones. We are eager to see them slowly take control of their bodies and learn to move about and enjoy the world on their own. As primary caregivers, we have the most important role in helping our children develop their gross motor skills.
HOW GROSS MOTOR SKILLS DEVELOP
Gross motor skills are the skills needed to move the large muscles of the body. Examples of these skills are running, jumping and climbing. Use of such skills requires balance and coordination.
The development of gross motor skills follows two basic patterns: head to toe and trunk to extremities. This means that your infant child normally learns the following skills in this sequence: lifting of the head, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, and walking.
Because large muscles usually develop before smaller ones, the development of gross motor skills becomes the foundation for skills development in other areas such as fine motor skills. Before a child can learn to hold a pencil with his thumb and index finger, he must first learn to control his arm.
Most of the development happens during infancy and childhood. However, this is not to say that gross motor skills cannot improve in the later years. Athletes, for example, continue to build their muscle strength and develop their gross motor skills so they can enhance their performance.
6 Ps: HOW TO ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT
PLAY. Give your child a safe and open play space. After you have removed any small, sharp or otherwise dangerous objects from the floor and have covered the electrical outlets, let your baby crawl around the house to his heart’s content. Bring your spunky toddler to the park so she can run and skip in the wide-open space.
PEERS. Find opportunities for your child to play with peers. Play catch or kickball with your toddler. Let your preschooler play hide-and-seek with her friends. Bring your child to the playground and let him climb and slide along with the other kids.
PARENTS. Parental or adult supervision is very important, especially with very young children. Even if you have made your home as childproof as possible, always keep an eye on your infant or toddler.
PRACTICE. Provide your child with occasions to practice his desired skills. If your 11-month-old infant enjoys walking around while you hold him, don’t keep him sitting in his playpen. If your 5-year-old daughter loves being in the pool and splashing around, bring her to the pool often and maybe try to teach her how to swim or hire a swimming coach.
PATIENCE. Although there are general guidelines and averages, each child develops at his own pace. Allow your child to learn motor skills at his own pace. If you push or pressure your child to perform a task he is not ready for, he may end up becoming frustrated and disappointed. The emotional stress could make it harder for him to learn.
PRAISE. Shower your child with lots of praise. Encourage your baby to take another step by telling her, with your arms outstretched and your face beaming with pride, how big and wonderful her first step was. Hug your little girl and tell her she did a great job of climbing and sliding at the playground on her own. Congratulate your son in his effort and determination to join his school’s football team.
GAMES TO PLAY WITH YOUR CHILD
- Learn action songs with big body movements like “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. Do the actions and let your child follow you.
- Play Simon Says. You say “Simon says stand on one leg” for example, and your child should do the action. When you say, “Kneel down,” without saying Simon says, your child should not do the action.
- Play the Shadow Game. Your child will act like your shadow and mimic your body movements as you do them. For example, you balance first on one leg, then on the other for as long as possible. Or walk on a narrow bar or curb with your arms outstretched or while holding an object in one hand, then the other hand. Ask your child to do the same actions.
- Imitate different animal movements, such as a horse’s gallop, a frog’s hop or a kangaroo’s jump.
- Play ball. Kicking, throwing and catching the ball helps develop hand-eye or foot-eye coordination. For older children, encourage them to try sports such as baseball, basketball, golf, football or tennis.
- Play Tag or other running games that will keep your child moving quickly. This helps to develop gross motor coordination.
- Playing hopscotch and jumping rope helps develop balance.
- Teach your child to ride a bike. This also develops balance.
- Climb. Bring your little one to the jungle gym at the playground or take your older child wall climbing.
