Motor Development - Motor Skills during Preschool Age

Motor skills are body movements that help the child do activities like walking, running, jumping, dressing, using toys, drawing, and writing. During preschool years (about 18 months to 5 years), both big movements (gross motor) and small hand movements (fine motor) develop rapidly.

• Around 18 months, most activities are based on walking.
• The child learns to walk forward and backward, begins to run, jump, hop, and even tries to skip; at first, this is just for fun, later it is used to achieve goals in daily life (e.g., running to get a toy).

• Between 2–3 years, children show clear fine motor and self‑help skills.
• They can put on simple clothes, button and unbutton, begin to undress, remove shoes and socks, try to put a key into a lock, build houses with matchboxes or blocks, and join parts of a toy train in order.

• Before complex skills, children often push and pull objects again and again.
• For example, a 25‑month‑old may open a toy, remove the battery and replace it correctly, play carrom with fingers, and cut paper with scissors once shown how to hold them, showing control over small parts and muscles.

• From 2 to about 4–5 years, children practise and coordinate complex motor skills.
• They first make zigzag lines, then, as finger muscles mature and integrate, they start writing letters and numbers; writing usually develops between 4–5 years, though some advanced children may write even before 3 years.

Gutteridge gave percentages for how many preschool children could perform certain skills:

Jumping:

• 42% of 3-year-olds jumped well.
• 81% of 5-year-olds were skillful jumpers.

Hopping:

• 33% of 4-year-olds were skilled hoppers.
• Hopping becomes more regular and precise with age (from awkward jumps to smooth hopping).

Skipping:

• 14% of 4-year-olds had mastered skipping.
• 91% of 5-year-olds could skip.

Riding a tricycle:

• 17% of 2-year-olds could ride a tricycle well.
• At 4 years, this increased to 100% in his observations.

These data show a clear age-related progression in gross motor skills.

• Baylay (1935) developed a scale to measure motor behaviour in children.
• The full scale has 76 items, arranged by difficulty, and each is linked to an expected age.
• 14 items are listed as part of the General Motor Development Sequence (after the child has started walking):

General Motor Development Sequence:

These items outline a sequence from basic standing to more complex tasks, such as hopping and alternating feet on stairs.

• Under normal conditions, a healthy child tries to stand around 1 year, stands alone by about 14 months, and walks without help by about 15 months.
• There are individual differences: some walk at 10–11 months, others (e.g., premature or ill) may walk closer to 2 years; studies from different countries show no major sex or social class differences in basic milestones, but some geographical and climatic differences (e.g., Swedish infants tend to walk earlier, Persian infants later), likely due to a mix of genetic and environmental factors.

• Motor development in preschool age covers both gross and fine motor skills.
• There is a clear sequence of milestones, but individual differences are common.
• Maturation (neuro-muscular readiness) is essential; training alone cannot force a skill to appear early.
• Classic studies by Gutteridge (1939) and Baylay (1935) provide important age norms and percentages for motor abilities.
• Culture and climate can influence the timing of milestones, while sex and social class show little difference in basic motor skills.