As the child develops physically, his nervous system, muscles, bones, etc. also get strong. They coordinate with each other in a better way. The child now attains better control over his body.

As a result he is able to do many activities. The child does these activities in order to explore his environment and tries to adjust with it. Such activities are called motor activities. Their development is called motor development. It develops very fast from birth and lasts till 5 years.

According to Crow and Crow, “With the interplay of nerves and muscles whatever physical activities are possible, e.g., sitting, crawling, running, etc., are called motor abilities.”

Types of motor development

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On the basis of motor capabilities motor development is divided into two parts:

(i) Gross movements. Like sitting, standing, running and throwing, etc.

(ii) Minor motor skills. Like holding, writing, drawing, playing with toys, etc. First gross movements are developed then the minor motor skills are developed.

Characteristics of motor development

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1. Definite sequence. It occurs in a definite sequence like:

(i) Cephalocandal development.

Development starts from head to toe. First head develops and then the development of arms, chest, abdomen and legs follows.

(ii) Proximodistal. Development starts from the centre of the body to the outer organs, e.g., arms develop first then hand and fingers.

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2. General to specific. First gross activities are developed then minor skills are developed, e.g., first the child learns the use of palms then the use of his fingers.

3. From large to small muscles. A child has control over big muscles first then over small muscles, e.g., he learns to hold ball with

hands first then learns to write with fingers.

4. Individual differences. Every child passes through all the steps of motor development but individual differences are found in them.

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5. Sex difference. Till the age of 3 years motor development of boys and girls is same but afterwards boys achieve better motor skill than girls.