How You Can Help Your Child Develop Their Skills

• Gross Motor Skills

  Gross motor skills describes physical development using ‘big movements’. Starting with small babies rolling over and moving on as they grow to being able to run, jump and hop. The best way to help your child build on these skills is to give them plenty of opportunity to practice them.

  Most children enjoy being physically active. You probably see how much your child enjoys getting out and has a lot of energy.

  The advice is that preschool children should have three hours of physical activity over 24 hours. This will give them the chance to build confidence and skills as well as helping them stay healthy and get into good habits.

  Most children will run, hop on one foot and be able to kick, throw and sometimes catch a ball by the time they start school. They should be able to safely manage going up and downstairs.

  Out & About

  Try and get out and about in big spaces when you can. This way your child will be able to run, jump and maybe even practice climbing safely. 

  • Join in with them; take a ball along to play with. When you join in you set a good example and your child will enjoy it much more.
  • Walk whenever you can.
  • Let your child balance on low walls (holding a hand to begin with), jump in puddles or hop along on one leg.
  • Your child will enjoy playing on the equipment at the park.

  Activities like these will build your child's confidence and makes a walk to the shops, nursery or school more fun!

  At Home

  You can practice gross motor skills at home too! You could try:

  • Jumping up and down from a bottom step.
  • Playing with cardboard boxes. Make tunnels or step in and out of the boxes.
  • Practice walking like different animals.
  • Make an indoor obstacle course; crawl around paper cups, jump over pillows and do ten star jumps.
  • Keep a balloon up in the air.

• Fine Motor Skills

  Fine motor skills describes the physical development that starts with a baby being able to hold a rattle and continues until they are able to build bricks, dress themselves or hold a pen to write and draw.

  By the time a child is 3 or 4 years old they will mostly draw in more detail and can play with more fiddly toys.

  Most preschoolers will use either their left or right hand (it does not matter which!). They will be able to hold a pen or pencil using their thumb and fingers (not their fist). They will probably be drawing lots of pictures of family members, complete with a head and maybe some other body parts! They will be feeding and dressing themselves a lot of the time, and maybe just needing some help with tricky bits.

  You can help them build on these skills by giving them lots of chances to practice:

  • Let them draw using colouring pens (you can get washable ones!). Get them copying circles and shapes. Draw with them - they will like taking it in turns.
  • Encourage them to try and keep in the lines in colouring books.
  • Play at chopping and shaping play dough, cutting out with play scissors and dressing teddies and dolls.
  • Let your child try to do their own buttons and zips. It may take longer but these are important skills and they will get quicker. 

• Problem Solving

  As your child is getting older they can make more sense of the world around them; how relationships and objects work. This is an important move towards independence. This builds confidence, self-esteem and the inner strength your child will rely on through life.

  Helping your child solve challenges that come up will help them grow their problem solving skills. 

  • Talk things through with your child – how did they manage to do something new? Break it down step by step. They will use these skills to learn new things at school too.
  • Try not to step in too quickly when your child is finding something hard. Encourage them to take some deep breaths, think it though and try again. Try making suggestions rather than giving the answers.
  • Talk through problems and arguments they might have with siblings or friends – why did it happen? What could they try next time?
  • Help your child see how decisions they take make a difference – for example if they spend all their pocket money on sweets there won’t be any left for a magazine. 

  As adults we sometimes struggle with the challenges we face. Your little one will find it hard at times and not always get it right. Give lots of praise for trying and then work with them to come up with a plan to get there in the end.

• Reading Skills

  Children learn best through play and fun experiences - this is especially true in the early years. You might feel pressured that your child needs to be learning to read and write before school, but don't worry - there is plenty of time and every child is different.

  Your child will learn things at their own pace. Helping them have the physical, social and emotional skills to cope with the new experiences they will have as they grow is important. Children learn best by playing and having fun with family and friends. 

  • Story time and counting games are a great way to build their concentration span.
  • Sharing books together is good for children. It helps with speech development and learning to concentrate.
  • Look at books – read the words or talk about what you can see – children often like to look at the same book over and over. They like the repetition and learn language effectively this way.
  • Try a trip to the library and let them choose which books to borrow, this might introduce a little variety. Don’t be surprised when they return to their old favourite! Find your local library.

  Some children will be interested in sounding out words in stories, or learning how to draw the letters for their names. If they want to do this, that’s great. If they are not interested - don't worry, just get back to enjoying the story, or drawing shapes. They will get there in their own time.