1. Motor Skills
Motor skills are used when the muscles of the body act and/or are coordinated.
Gross motor skills- actions that use the large muscles of the body.
Fine motor skills- actions that use small muscles of the body.

2. Recognising gross motor skills
Gross motor skills allow the use to fundamental movement skills that are movement patterns to involving different body parts like the legs, arms, trunk and head. This includes skills like running, hoping, and catching. These are foundation movements that are used in more specialised, challenging and complex actions needed for play, active games, sports, dance, gymnastics, and physical recreation activities.

3. Fundamental movement skills can be
divided into three categories:
Body management skills involve balance; for example:
-bending
-swinging
-climbing
-lifting
-reaching

4. Locomotor skills involve moving the body in a direction; for example, by:
-hopping
-skipping
-jumping
-galloping
-sprinting
-running

5. Object control skills involve the control of objects; for example:
-throwing
-kicking
-catching
-batting
-shovelling

6. To allow children to practise and develop their gross motor skills, they must have access to equipment, games and toys that facilitate this.

7. In a care service, this means supplying equipment such as:
-climbing frames
-ladders
-steps or stairs
-space to crawl, walk around furniture, walk independently, run, skip
and hop

8. -tricycles and/or bicycles -monkey bars -shovels -trampolines
-skipping ropes
-balls
-push-along trolleys
-tricycles and/or bicycles
-monkey bars
-shovels
-trampolines

9. What are Gross Motor Skills?
Gross Motor Skills are large movements of the body, which relate to mobility
and active play.

10. In each of your tables discuss 2-3 activities that you can do that facilitate gross motor skills and then come to the board and draw an illustration of your activity. Make sure it is out of the “norm” and that your illustration tells us a story.

11. Activities that promote the development of gross motor skills:
Playground equipment
Endurance activities
Swimming
Ball Toss
Kick Ball
Jump Rope, Skipping, galloping, hopping
Playing outside
Imitating animals
Wheelbarrow walking
“Simon Says”
Log Rolling
Riding bicycles
General exercises
Walking a line, curb, railroad ties

12. What are Fine Motor Skills?

13. Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are the manner in which we use our fingers, hands and arms. They include reaching, grasping, manipulating objects and using different tools like crayons and scissors.

14. Why are Fine Motor Skills Important?
Fine Motor Skills enable people to do many things in daily life…

15. Activities that require fine motor skills:
Zipping and Buttoning
Picking a flower
Writing a note
Cutting with scissors
Turing pages of a book
Communicating with sign language
Brushing Teeth
Opening a door
Shaking someone’s hands
Using an elevator
Operation of a remote control

16. Recognising fine motor skills
Fine motor skills refer to the smaller movements of
the body parts, such as the wrists, hands fingers,
feet and toes. Fine motor skills also include hand
eye coordination that is necessary in tasks where
you see something and coordinate your hand to
move to what you see. There are many activities
that use hand-eye coordination; for example:
reading
typing
throwing a ball

17. Activity: On a piece of paper: list 10 things as you can think of that require children to use hand-eye coordination.

18. Equipment that facilitate Fine Motor Skills
finger puppets
pasting or painting brushes
scissors
Play-dough
pencils, pens,
staplers
nails and hammers
toy cars and car mats

19. clothing with buttons, press studs, studs, ties, zips
knives, forks, spoons
computer keyboards
books
small sorting items for children older enough; for example, buttons, coins, bottle tops, pebbles
Wool for knitting, sewing, stitching, pom-pom making
Puzzles

20. Hand grasp also develops in sequence and influences the ability of a child to control their activities. Dexterity is a word used to explain the manipulation of objects using your fine motor skills. Skills like hand grasp are influenced by the environment, so if the child is not provided with opportunities to use a grasp, this skill will not develop as quickly and their dexterity may be poor.

21. A palmer grasp appears once the grasp reflex has disappeared, at around 4 months. The whole fist is first used in this grasp- the palm covers the object and the fingers then curl around the object intentionally. The child is able to let go of the object when they want to.

23. A pincer grasp occurs next as the fingers become more controlled
A pincer grasp occurs next as the fingers become more controlled. The pincer grasp is useful for picking up small objects and uses the index finger (the first finger) and the thumb together in a pinching motion.

25. A tripod grasp follows where a thick crayon or piece of food is held with the fingers in a tripod style with two fingers and the thumb.

27. Finally, a pencil grasp develops
Finally, a pencil grasp develops. This enables the child to have greater control over their drawing or writing implement.

29. Homework Due Thursday
Now that you have learned about all of the learning centers…
Choose ONE child centered theme and then make a list of creative activities for Art, Math, Science, Dramatic Play, literacy, Gross Motor, and Fine Motor Skills. Make sure it is an activity that children can do and describe how to do it (like a recipe—part by part instructions).  
Example:
Theme: Flowers
Activity name: Butterflies
Description: Using coffee filters children will color or dot with markers, then using an eye dropper children will drop water onto coffee filters to spread the colors out and allow it to dry. After it has been dried the children will squish it in the middle and then place a pipe cleaner and wrap around and make antennas with it