Oct 2025 Encouraging Children to Develop Motor Skills

October 9, 2025

< Back to News

Children typically develop motor skills as they move and play throughout each day. As their muscles grow stronger, children learn to control and coordinate the movements of their muscles to achieve a specific goal. For example, an infant might use a combination of muscle movements to get a toy that is out of reach. They might roll or crawl towards the object they want and then grasp the toy to pick it up. That ability to control their movements and coordinate different muscle groups to work together is referred to as the development of motor skills.

Gross, or large, motor skills refer to the use of muscles in the arms, legs, or torso (core). Fine, or small, motor skills are the terms used to describe the muscles in the hand and wrist. Adults can encourage children to develop their motor skills by inviting them to participate in specific activities that support their muscle strength and coordination.

More about Gross (Large) and Fine (Small) Motor Skills

You can see the development of gross motor skills in infants as they learn to roll over, sit independently, crawl, feed themselves, and walk. Toddlers demonstrate they are developing motor skills as they learn to feed themselves with a spoon or fork, dance, walk while pushing a toy on wheels or carrying a toy, jump, stand on their tiptoes and reach for an object, and throw balls.

Preschoolers develop more complicated motor movements such as changing direction while running, learning to step forward with one foot while throwing a ball with the opposite arm, skip, hop on one foot, follow a dance pattern, and climb small structures. Children in elementary school refine these skills and develop new skills such as playing hopscotch, jumping rope, climbing taller structures, learning yoga poses, and playing sports such as basketball, soccer, or baseball.

Fine motor skills can be seen in infants when they grasp or grab a rattle or other toy in their palm (palmar grasp), when they pick up finger foods or other small objects with their thumb and index finger (pincer grasp), when they point at objects, and when they use American Sign Language (ASL) for signing words like milk, more, help, or hurt. Toddlers use fine motor skills to feed themselves, draw, hold a paint brush, throw a ball, manipulate toys, imitate songs with gestures like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, pop bubbles, transfer objects from one hand to the other, and turn the pages of a book.

Preschoolers begin to use their thumb and first two fingers (tripod grasp) to draw with pencils and pens, paint with brushes, string beads, and use tools like clothespins. They also typically show an increase in their ability to turn the pages of books, stir play food in a pot, build with small blocks, dress themselves, feed themselves, open and close containers, use scissors, or pour water from a pitcher. Elementary school children are strengthening their tripod grasp, which can be seen as they start writing and participating in more complex art and construction activities such as sewing, weaving, building with smaller blocks that lock together, using screw drivers or other tools, and playing a musical instrument. To learn more, refer to the Fine and Gross Motor Skills Developmental Milestoneshandout by Brown University Health.

Activities that Support the Development of Motor Skills

The following are ideas for supporting the motor skills development of children. Choose the activities that are appropriate for your child’s abilities and interests. Remember that all activities for young children should be closely supervised.

Infants:

  • Place or hold an interesting toy just out of reach of the baby and move it slowly to catch their attention. This will encourage the baby to stretch and reach for the toy.
  • Clap your hands while singing to the baby and gently bring the baby’s hands together in front of them to encourage them to try and clap with you.
  • When your baby can support their head without your assistance, encourage them to sit independently by placing them between your legs so they can lean their back against you for support while you hold a book in front of them and read.
  • Lay your baby on their back in front of you. Gently lift their legs and move them as if they were pedaling a bicycle. If your baby resists the movement, do not force it.
  • When your baby begins to crawl, invite them to crawl on different surfaces such as grass, carpet, tile, or wood floors. This will challenge them to adjust their movements for the different textures. For example, they may have to slow their movements on tile floors that are more slippery than carpet.
  • Introduce your baby to American Sign Language (ASL). The signs for everyday words like please, more, and thank you require arm movements.
  • Let your baby explore containers that open and close, such as empty and clean tubs for butter or small boxes with lids.
  • Stuff an empty diaper wipe container or tissue box with scarves or scraps of material that your baby can pull out. This is similar to a Ribbon Pulling Activity you can download and print for free from CHS.

Toddlers:

  • As toddlers begin to crawl, cruise (walking while holding on to something), and walk, try setting up a small obstacle course for them. For example, you can place a large rolled up towel in their path and let them navigate around or over it. You can also stack two sturdy pillows that they need to climb over to reach their toys.
  • Roll a soft ball on the floor back and forth between you and your toddler and encourage them to try kicking balls while playing outside.
  • Go for a walk around your neighborhood or walk around your local park.
  • Play music and dance with your toddler.
  • Use a pot with a wooden spoon to make a drum and let your toddler make music.
  • Make homemade paint, or purchase non-toxic paint and invite your toddler to finger paint on a large piece of white paper or posterboard.
  • Offer your child nesting blocks or stacking rings. Make your own using different-sized boxes that fit inside each other and decorate them with your toddler.
  • Fill a clean spray bottle about half-full of water, show your child how to make it spray water, and then let them spray the ground or plants outside.

Preschoolers:

  • Visit a local park where your child has space to run and can practice climbing, swinging, and kicking or throwing balls.
  • Try a couple of stretching or yoga poses at the start of each day.
  • Place a long strip of masking tape on the floor or use sidewalk chalk to draw a line outside and invite children to walk on the line (like a balance beam).
  • Use sidewalk chalk to draw a hopscotch or create an obstacle course. For example, draw shapes for them to walk around, draw one shoe to indicate they should hop on one foot, and two shoes to indicate they should jump.
  • Introduce your child to clothes pins and how they work. Color the clothespins with markers and then color the edges of the paper plates with the same colors. Invite your child to clip the clothespin to the corresponding color on the paper plate. To print out detailed directions for this activity, click here.
  • Make a nature loom. Start by going on a nature walk and collect fallen leaves or flowers. Cut slits into opposite ends of a square or rectangle piece of cardboard. Wrap a long piece of string or yarn around the cardboard, using the slits to hold the string in place. Now your child can weave the nature items they collected into their nature loom. To print out detailed directions for this activity, click here.
  • Try making playdough using this recipe from KidsActivities.com. Pushing, pulling, squeezing, and molding the playdough is a great way to strengthen hand, finger, and wrist muscles. Add to the fun by using cookie cutters, wooden craft sticks, and small wooden dowels, or a rolling pin to the playdough fun.
  • Use a colander and chenille sticks to create a threading activity. Your child can weave chenille sticks through the holes of the colander and string buttons or beads on them to create sculptures. Click here to print detailed instructions.

School-age Children:

  • Encourage your child to keep a daily journal where they can draw or write about their day. They can also cut out pictures they like from old magazines and glue them into their journal. Being able to use writing tools and scissors is an important skill for school-age children to practice.
  • Take your child grocery shopping with a calculator. You can find an inexpensive calculator at a dollar store, or if you have a smartphone your child can use the calculator app. Ask your child to add up the cost of items as you shop and compare the totals at the end.
  • Wash an old pair of sneakers with laces. Use these shoes to teach your child how to lace and tie shoes. Your child can then practice with the shoes until they have mastered the skill.
  • Play a handclapping game with your child to strengthen large motor skills and eye-hand coordination. Click here to see the handclapping game for Miss Mary Mack.
  • Choose a large jigsaw puzzle to work on with your child. Positioning puzzle pieces builds eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.
  • Visit the local park and encourage your child to use the climbing structures, learn to start themselves in a swing and pump their legs to keep going, or play a ball game on the grass.
  • Cut off part of two empty one-gallon milk or water jugs to create two scoops. Use the scoops to toss and catch a ball to each other. Click here to print detailed directions for this activity.
  • Play a game of charades. You and your child can write the names of animals, actions, or objects on slips of paper. Fold the slips of paper and place them in a bowl. One person draws a slip of paper and acts it out without words, while the other person guesses what it could be. If you have never played charades before, you can find instructions here.

Spending time moving and playing will help your child develop strong motor skills. If you are concerned about your child’s motor skills speak to your pediatrician about having them evaluated.

References and Resources