FUNDAMENTAL MOTOR SKILLS
Gross Motor Co-ordination can be divided into two categories:
Locomotor- walking
-running
-jumping
-hopping
-climbing
-galloping
-skipping
Balancing- static
-dynamic
Perceptual motor development = growth of various basic skills or abilities believed to be important in building an adequate foundation for more complex learning.
Walking
-Carries the body through space by a transference of weight from one foot to another.
-By approximately 2 years of age most children demonstrate all the elements of a mature gait.
-For the next 2-3 years there continues to be detectable improvement in rhythm and co-ordination.
Running
-Similar to the walk but in running there is a period of no support.
-By age 5 most children have developed reasonably acceptable running efficiency and understand what it means to run fast.
-Towards the end of primary school girls develop relatively wider hips in relation to shoulder width than boys do. Boys develop longer limbs than girls. This gives boys a mechanical advantage in running activities.
Jumping
-A movement which carries the body through the air from a take-off on one or both feet.
-Children will usually demonstrate a jump from an elevation before undertaking the long jump.
-Hurdling or jumping over an obstacle generally occurs after long jumping.
Hopping
-The body is pushed off the floor from one foot and after a slight suspension in the air is returned to the floor with the weight taken on the same foot.
-By age 4 most children can hop four to six steps on one foot.
-By age 5 most children can hop consecutively for eight to 10 hops.
-By age 8, 50% of children can do rhythmic hopping (hop from one foot to the other in a sequence)
Climbing
-Involves the integration of arm and leg movements and a reasonable amount of bravery and strength.
-On ladders, performance is influenced by the distance between rungs, the diameter of rungs, the width of te ladder, the stability of the ladder and the nature of available avenues of exit after the climb is completed.
-With regard to stairs, the height and depth of risers and presence or absence of railings also influence performance.
Galloping
-A combination of a walk and a run.
-The same foot is always the lead foot.
-By age 6 most children have galloping skills.
-The gallop is generally learned before the skip.
Skipping
-A combination of a walk and a hop.
-Can be executed in any direction by the pattern is always done on alternate feet wit hthe weight shifting on each walking step.
-By age 6 1/2 most children can skip.
Static Balance
-The ability of the body to maintain a particular body position without moving through space.
-Children under the age of 6 are generally unable to balance on one foot with their eyes closed.
Dynamic Balance
-The ability of the body to maintain and control posture while the body is moving through space.
-By age 5 children can traverse a 100mm wide beam.
-Between the ages of 5 and 12 there is a steady increase in balance skills.