What To Know About Motor Skills in Children

Motor skills are the physical abilities that allow us to move and coordinate our bodies. Fine motor skills use the small muscles of the hand or wrist while gross motor skills employ the large muscles in the body to allow for balance, coordination, reaction time, and physical strength.

Motor skills enable the movements children need for everyday tasks, from playing to feeding themselves. Children are expected to develop certain motor skills around the same age, but not every child will reach fine and gross motor skill milestones at precisely the same time.

Learn signs that your child is on track with their motor skill development, and activities that can boost their coordination and confidence.

What Are Fine Motor Skills?

Fine motor skill activities involve manual dexterity and often require coordinating movements of the hands and fingers with the eyes (aka hand-eye coordination). Research shows that early mastery of these skills better predicts future academic success than cognitive tasks like letter identification.

Components of fine motor skills include being able to grip and manipulate objects, using both hands for a task, and using just the thumb and one finger to pick something up rather than the whole hand.

You can encourage your baby to improve their fine motor skills by laying them under a play gym, using wrist or ankle rattles, or moving a colorful toy around so they can track it with their eyes.

For toddlers, activities that might improve fine motor skills include encouraging them to pick up objects with tongs, building with blocks, and doing craft projects. You can also encourage toddlers and preschoolers to play with sensory toys like clay or playdough, sponges, dry pasta, or water toys.

Examples of Fine Motor Skill Milestones

Children will start developing small, coordinated movements in the newborn period, and by early elementary school, are likely able to do some tricky things, like writing the alphabet and fastening buttons. Here's a selection of fine motor skills you can look for your child to develop as a baby, toddler, and preschooler.

Birth to 2 months

• Will close hand when an object is placed in their palm (grasp reflex)
• Moves arms in random motions

3 to 6 months

• Can open and close both hands
• Brings their hands to their mouth
• Reaches for toys using both arms and can transfer them from hand to hand

6 to 9 months

• Begins to grasp and hold onto objects using their thumbs
• Can hold a bottle independently
• Uses a raking grasp to move objects with fingers

9 to 12 months

• Puts small or medium-sized objects in a cup or container
• Develops pincer grasp (using index finger and thumb to grasp objects)
• Feeds themselves finger foods

12 to 18 months

• Builds a block tower two blocks high
• Removes socks
• Points with isolated finger
• Scribbles with crayons on paper with a fisted grip

18 months to 2 years

• Turns pages in a book one page at a time
• Can scribble
• Holds and drinks from a cup without spilling much
  

2 to 3 years

• Zips and unzips large zippers
• Can snip with scissors
• Can draw crossing lines
• Can screw and unscrew lids
  

3 to 4 years

• Colors mostly in the lines
• Draws a circle after being shown an example
• Can get dressed with some help

5 to 6 years

• Cuts well with scissors
• Writes the alphabet and their name
• Can get dressed independently
  

What Are Gross Motor Skills?

Gross motor skills are movements that involve large muscle groups and are generally more broad and energetic than fine motor movements. These movements include walking, kicking, jumping, and climbing stairs. Some milestones for gross motor skills also involve eye-hand coordination, such as throwing or catching a ball.

Encourage your baby to work on their gross motor skills by doing lots of tummy time. Once they master that, encourage them to reach for (and later crawl towards) toys placed in front of them. To encourage your baby to walk, help them stand and take steps by holding their arms.

With toddlers and preschoolers, encourage them to build forts, dance to songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," play pretend, and pull their toys in wagons.

Examples of Gross Motor Skill Milestones

The phrase, "You must walk before you run" applies to child development, too. It takes a while for kids to learn to move their bodies in graceful or agile ways. These are some examples of gross motor skills your child might learn in their first several years, remembering that some children will develop some abilities a little earlier or later.

Birth to 2 months

• Lifts head while on their belly
• Turns head from side to side while on their back
• Can kick arms and legs
  

3 to 4 months

• Pushes up on their forearms when on their belly
• Rolls over from their belly to their back
• Keeps head in line with their body when supported in a sitting position
  

5 to 6 months

• Rolls back and forth
• Brings their feet to their mouth when on their back
• Pushes up using their hands when on their belly
  

6 to 9 months

• Sits independently
• Crawls on their belly
  

9 to 12 months

• Crawls on their hands and knees
• Pulls to a standing position and starts to cruise around furniture
• Can walk with one or two hands held

1 to 2 years

• Crawls up stairs
• Learns to walk unassisted
• Can kick a ball forward
  

2 to 3 years

• Can walk and run fairly easily
• Jumps with both feet
• Can kick a ball with both feet
  

3 to 4 years

• Can balance on one foot
• Can catch a large ball

4 to 5 years

• Can ride a bicycle (with training wheels)
• Can skip on alternate feet
• Can learn to skate and swim
  

What To Know About Motor Skill Delays

A child with motor impairments may have trouble moving in a controlled, coordinated, and efficient way. If your child seems to be delayed in developing fine or gross motor skills, they will likely undergo an assessment and may require physical or occupational therapy to catch up. Talk to your pediatrician if you have concerns—they should be able to point you in the direction of a specialist who can help.

Fine motor skill delays

Children with neurological conditions or developmental delays may have difficulty with fine motor skills. Difficulties with fine motor skills often aren't diagnosed until preschool when it becomes more obvious that children are struggling with different school activities, such as learning to copy shapes or letters.

Some children will be diagnosed with dysgraphia, a learning difference that affects writing skills, while others might be diagnosed with dyspraxia (also known as developmental coordination disorder or DCD), a condition that is still not widely understood. Kids with fine motor skill difficulties might need occupational therapy, modifications, or assistive technology.

Gross motor skill delays

It may be easier to notice if your child isn't reaching gross motor skill milestones because gross motor skills are among the most anticipated. You're probably eagerly anticipating your baby rolling over, crawling, pulling themselves up along furniture, and taking their first steps. As your child grows, it's natural to note when they are running and playing and how well they do in physical games and sports.

Gross motor skill delays may also be a sign of dyspraxia. If children's gross motor delays affect everyday movements, they may receive physical therapy and need modifications or assistive technology to keep up with mobility or athletics.

It's natural to compare your child to a same-age peer or sibling who has precociously learned to skip down the street or write their name in chalk on the blacktop, but some kids simply take a little longer to feel comfortable with certain movements.

Still, you want to be aware if your child has motor skill delays, as early intervention can help get them back on track. Keep up with your child's well visits so their pediatrician can monitor their development, and don't hesitate to speak up if you have any concerns.