Gross Motor Skills

1. What are gross motor skills?
   Gross motor skills are larger movements your child makes with his arms, legs, feet, or his entire body. So crawling, running, and jumping are gross motor skills.

2. Why are gross motor skills important in a child’s development?
   Gross motor skills are important to enable children to perform every day functions, such as walking, running, skipping, as well as playground skills (e.g. climbing) and sporting skills (e.g. catching, throwing and hitting a ball with a bat). Gross motor abilities also have an influence on other everyday functions. For example, a child’s ability to maintain table top posture (upper body support) will affect their ability to participate in fine motor skills (e.g. writing, drawing and cutting) and sitting upright to attend to class instruction, Gross motor skills impact on your endurance to cope with a full day of school.