On our next safari, we will look at gross and fine motor skills and how a play place can develop them for children. As we previously learned, play for children is essential because it helps them develop body movements. We will now look in depth about what these are and how a child learns from playing on equipment. Gross motor skills are any big movements a child makes and this can include “walking, running, jumping, climbing, and skipping” (Thompson). To perform these, a child requires large motions from their hands and arms along with a lot of energy. They develop these skills during the early years of childhood so it is vital that they are permitted to play on play equipment in order to learn them.
Fine motor skills on the other hand, are the small movements of a child’s body and they include “grasping small objects with the thumb and index finger, pushing buttons, turning the pages of a book, and using a pen or pencil to write” (Thompson). As a child grows their nervous system develops, allowing them to use their fingers in more complex ways. With concentration and practice, their brains and fingers will learn to work together in order to perform advanced tasks.
Play places often include a variety of ways to develop both forms of motor skills. There are often many ways to climb a play place and this can be largely beneficial to both a child’s gross and fine motor skills. When climbing a rock wall for instance, a child will learn “where their body parts are and what to do with them along with directions like up, down, left, and right” (Morin). When a child climbs, their large movements have to be in tune with their brain or else they will fall. With a unity of their brain, fingers and strength, a growing child will learn to scale a rock wall or a climbing net when taken to a play place.
Overhead equipment like monkey bars and climbing nets help children learn fine and gross motor skills in a similar way. When a child is hanging off of a bar, they learn to incorporate fine motor skills by wrapping their fingers around the bar. They also learn gross motor skills by swinging their bodies and reaching from bar to bar. As they move, they learn the order of movements from grabbing to thinking to gripping one hand after the other. This teaches them how to combine their bodies with an orderly thought process, allowing them to grow mentally as well as physically.
Play places are excellent locations to take your child because of all the ways they can learn fine and gross motor skills. From learning how to walk, crawl and run on them, to learning both strength and coordination as they climb jungle gyms, maneuver themselves through tunnels and chutes, and navigate swinging rings, your child will develop immensely from being at one (Thompson). As we learned a few safaris ago, children learn social skills from playing games on play grounds and play places with others, but they’re also growing physically too. Be sure to take your child on a safari to a play place and watch them learn and grow in many, many ways.
Tips from Tiger:
-Organize specific activities to improve your child’s fine and gross motor skills. Help your child become well rounded in both areas.
-When your child climbs a rock wall or monkey bars. Be there to catch them if they fall. These activities can be dangerous if unattended.
-Always encourage your child if they don’t succeed at first. Developing gross and fine motor skills is a learning experience and it’s ok to fail at first.
-Never let your child play on an empty stomach. Gross motor skills require a lot of energy.
Useful References
Thompson Ben. “Building Motor Skills on the Playground.” Playground Equipment. Playgroundequipment.com 2020. https://www.playgroundequipment.com/building-motor-skills-on-the-playground/
Morin Amanda. “5 Playground Activities That Can Boost Your Child’s Development.” Understood. Understood.org. 2020. https://www.understood.org/en/friends-feelings/child-social-situations/playgrounds-playdates/5-playground-activities-that-can-help-your-childs-development
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