The milestones your child makes in coordination abilities throughout the various stages of their life typically progress from head to toe. You’ll find an assortment of activities to enhance their development and help them perform at optimum levels both mentally and physically starting from infancy to throughout their grade school years. The following are five ways to enhance your youngster’s motor skills:
1. Infancy
During your infant’s first few months, parents are instructed to support their head properly because they are unable to do this on their own. As they begin to progress, you’ll need to find activities to strengthen their neck muscles. A portable play activity gym is an excellent way to help your baby develop fine motor skills necessary to support their neck. The activity gyms come with a comfortable floor mat that has an assortment of shapes and colors designed to help with their visual senses, rolling over and tummy time. The portable toy bar has various toys and plush animals that make reaching and grasping a fun way to learn. Other items included in the activity gyms are a child-safe mirror that teaches your infant games of peek-a-boo.
2. Toddler
Toddlers are typically on the move during this stage of their life, and it’s hard for parents to keep them still for long. Movement throughout their entire body is a way for them to build and enhance their dexterity. Many enjoy playing with more complex activity gyms and colorful blocks by creating towering structures and knocking their creations down afterward. Games such as jumping and running are also fun and can benefit their coordination.
3. Preschool
Your son or daughter is starting to develop a new range of skills at this age level. They’ll now be able to hold a pencil or paint brush and draw shapes. Start them off by coloring with vibrant colored crayons or painting. Their imagination will also begin to develop on a whole new level, and you’ll want to help strengthen their creativity. You can provide other activities that include cutting and pasting. Child-safe scissors can instruct them on the many uses of this amazing instrument by cutting out shapes and patterns for art projects around the home.
4. Kindergarten
As your child gets ready to begin school, you will want to prepare them for it properly by introducing the various motor skills they’ll need there. Object control teaches them hand and foot coordination. Pass a balloon or ball around a circle and show them how to throw or kick it gently back to you.
5. Grade School and Beyond
This is the final stage before they head into adolescence, and they’ll be able to master a variety of tasks at this level. Games of soccer, baseball and basketball can strengthen their skill set. Other activities such as playing an instrument or mastering the formation of clay are just as stimulating in developing their coordination.
The way your child develops is not set in stone, and you’ll find that everyone is unique in their own way. Helping them master the basic motor skills with an assortment of fun and exciting activities will set the foundation for proper growth and development.
Ieda Vincent is a researcher and mother of two and proactively focused strengthening her kids’ range of motion and development at an early age, which helped them as they developed through adolescence. If you are concerned with dexterity and improving your child’s motor skills, Kids II can provide a variety of toys and products such as activity gyms geared toward each stage of your younger tot’s development. They have been in the industry for over 40 years and have many esteemed awards and accolades that set them apart.
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