Gross Motor 4 Years Old

 

One of the most common concerns for parents is whether or not their child is developing normally. A delay in the area of gross motor tends to be a more obvious area of concern.

Gross motor is defined as using the large muscle groups to sit, stand, walk, run, jump, keep balance, and change direction. To help you understand development, it is important to now that the brain is fairly compartmentalized, i.e. the part of the brain that moves the right leg is separate from the part that tells the left fingers to move.

 

When an infant is developmentally delayed or neurologically impaired, gross motor skills, as well as other skills, may be delayed and do not develop easily. When a child’s disabilities interfere with their overall gross motor functioning, the child often does not develop in the sequence of a typically developing child.

 

For more information please contact, Martha Fugate, ESS Preschool Coordinator (928) 373-3453.

 

 

Developmental milestones are a set of functional skills or specific tasks that most children can do at a certain age range. There is a large variability in the age at which children attain most gross motor milestones.

 

Here is a list of gross motor milestones that you might expect in children ages four-five years of age:

 

• Runs around obstacles
• Walks on a line
• Balances on one foot
• Uses slide independently
• Throws ball overhead, catches a bounce ball
• Walks toe-heel
• Jumps forward ten times without falling
• Gallops or skips
• Walks up and down stairs independently, alternating feet
• Kicks ball forward
• Pushes, pulls, steers wheeled toys
• Jumps over 6" high object and lands on both feet