Gross Motor Activities
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Regular gross motor activities should be an essential part of every child’s life.
Through play, through games, and through sport, children can develop their gross motor skills to lay a foundation for school skills such as handwriting, concentrating, following instructions, sport skills and team work.
There are a range of gross motor pages on my site, filled with photographed exercises and activities to boost your child's skills.
Here is an overview of all the pages!
- Core and shoulder girdle exercises
- Activities for coordination skills
- More gross motor exercises
- Information and tips for gross motor development
- Gross motor resources
- How should I schedule gross motor activities?
The advice and learning activities on this website are NOT a replacement for evaluation and treatment by an occupational therapist. If you suspect your child has gross motor delays, please seek a professional opinion and read my disclaimer before proceeding.
Core and Shoulder Girdle Exercises
Your child’s core muscles are vital to good performance in the classroom. Without a stable core, he/she will struggle to sit still at a desk and to carry out fine motor tasks.Your child also needs stability at the shoulder girdle to help fine motor skills to develop well.
These pages on my site will help you find photographed gross motor activities to work on those areas. You can also read more about why these muscles are so important in a child's development!
Help Your Child Develop Better Core Strength
Does your child need to work on core strength but you have no idea where to start?
Are you looking for fun core strengthening exercises that your child will actually enjoy?
My Core Exercises for Kids download will give you more than 20 pages of photographed exercises and activity ideas, as well as helpful information and an exercise planner.
Fun Shoulder Girdle Exercises to Build Upper Body Strength and Stability
Do you want to give your child the best possible foundation for handwriting, by working on upper body strength and stability?
Does your child have poor fine motor skills as a result of poor shoulder girdle stability?
This printable resource will provide you with 20 pages of photographed exercises that may help your child develop better shoulder girdle stability.
View my Shoulder Exercises for Kids E-Book now!
Coordination Activities
Children need to develop coordination skills in order to carry out everyday tasks like tying shoelaces, eating with a knife and fork, cutting with scissors, handwriting, playing ball games... and many more!
These pages on my site will give you helpful information, useful tips, and lots of fun photographed coordination activities you can do with your child at home.
Support Your Child's Bilateral Coordination Skills
Bilateral coordination skills play a vital role in many fine motor and gross motor activities.
Skills such as cutting with scissors, eating with a knife and fork, catching a ball, skipping and jumping, all require good bilateral coordination.
If you want to support your child's development of this vital skill, then try my download full of Bilateral Coordination Activities!
You will receive more than 24 pages of photographed activities to help your child.
More Gross Motor Exercises
These gross motor exercises incorporate ideas from various gross motor pages on my site. Some of the exercises are ideal to do with a small group of children as well as individually.
Info and Tips on Gross Motor Skills Development
Why are gross motor skills important? Why do some kids struggle with gross motor skills? What can affect my child's gross motor development?
The articles below contain some answers to these questions and many more!
Enjoy browsing - I hope you find them useful!
Gross Motor Resources
What resources do you need for gross motor games and activities? Many of the activities I suggest use surprisingly little equipment, which is great for saving money!
Balls, ropes, access to a play park - these are all readily available resources. Second hand shops often stock bats, small trampolines and other gross motor items, so it is worth checking them out.
For your convenience, I have picked out a few really helpful items over at PFOT that are similar to items I use myself.
Use the coupon code OTmom to get 15% off any order of $35 or more at PFOT.
This is an affiliate link, which means I will receive a small commission if you purchase an item through my links - but you are under no obligation to do so!
Are you looking to have these activities at your fingertips in an accessible format?
My Gross Motor E-Books will give you all the information and activities you need to have fun doing focused gross motor exercises with your child at home.
Each affordable e-book contains a LOT more activities than you will find on my site, in an easily accessible download!
Scheduling Gross Motor Activities
So, you want to start doing more gross motor activities with your child - so when, where and how often???
There is no hard and fast rule about how often to do these activities. It depends on your child's abilities and also on your family's lifestyle. Take a look at your family’s daily and weekly routine.
Each family is different and you need to decide what works best for you. I believe you will see the most progress if you can incorporate 10 to 20 minutes of fun activities 3 times a week, but see what works for you.
- Daily routine: is there a time of day when it is generally possible for you to focus on your child for 10 minutes? After breakfast if you homeschool? After a rest time in the afternoon? Between bath and bed? Can you make a 10-minute break in the homework routine in the afternoon? Are there any activities you can make a regular part of family outings, family life?
- Weekly Routine: Which afternoon are you usually home without extra-mural activities? Or can you head for the playpark while you wait for your other child to finish extra-murals? What about Saturdays before chores?
Remember that incorporating gross motor exercises into your family’s life has wonderful long-term benefits!
Look at other ways of improving your child’s general fitness levels with gross motor activities such as swimming, playing catch, cycling and walking on the beach.
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