Get Physical with Skill Building

Encouraging gross-motor skills.

Your preschooler is becoming more surefooted every day. She is developing her body in new ways, learning to jump, climb, skip, and hop -- skills that build on one another. This skill building is a form of learning.

Developing her large-muscle, or gross-motor, skills increases her strength and stamina. Here’s how to further encourage development of her gross-motor skills and coordination while having fun:

• Give her a tricycle or pedaling toy.
• Walk to the park, where she can climb and swing on the playground equipment.
• Play catch or kick a ball in the backyard.
• Get your child involved in group or individual activities such as soccer, jump rope, or swimming.
• Play music and dance to the beat with her.

Your child’s small-muscle, or fine-motor, skills are yet another part of his step-by-step development. Eye-hand coordination will enable him to draw, scribble, and write.

• Plan art projects that include drawing, cutting with safety scissors, and pasting.
• Do puzzles that have pieces of different sizes.
• Provide toys that allow for sorting or stacking.
• Offer trains or cars that need to be pushed along a track.
• Use clay to make things he can play with, using his imagination.
• Let your child dress himself as much as possible. Buttons, snaps, and Velcro closures help him develop those fine-motor skills.