Watching your child grow up is an incredible and fulfilling experience. Whether it’s crawling, sitting up on their own, or walking, it is all a joy to witness. However, when your little one doesn’t reach their milestones or are a bit behind their peers, it can be concerning.
Helping children hit motor milestones is a specialty of Pediatric Physiotherapy. Strengthening the foundational muscles, especially the core, and turning it into fun exercises and activities is a job for Pediatric Physiotherapists.
What are motor milestones?
Motor milestones are key skills that infants and children typically develop and hit as they grow. They are general markers in strength, coordination, and balance of a child. A motor milestone is generally around a similar age in all children, making them a good tracker of overall health and development.
Usually, they are split into 2 categories:
- Gross motor skills: Larger skills such as sitting, crawling, walking, running etc.
- Fine motor skills: Small movements that require precision such as grasping objects, writing, doing up a zipper
What is the general timeline for motor skills?
- 2-4 months: Tummy time, using their arms to push
- 6 months: Rolling to back and tummy, sitting with support
- 9 months: Sitting independently, crawling
- 1 year: Pull to stand, cruising, first independent steps
- 1.5 years: Walking independently, starting to run
- 2 years: Kicking a ball, jumping, stiars
As can be seen, these skills build off each other into harder ones. These milestones demand postural control, balance, core strength, and coordination. Without the core control, it becomes hard for a child to interact with their environment and use their limbs. This interaction is how children grow cognitively and develop fine motor skills as well. Thus, core control is an absolute must in the early stages of development.
Are there exercises for kids to build core strength at home?
Yes and Pediatric Physiotherapy makes exercises fun! The standard 3 sets of 10 does not work well for our young ones, but we can help them engage through play-based exercises. Here are 5 parent-friendly exercises to try at home!
- Tummy time play:
- Place your child on their tummy on a mat
- Place some toys just out of reach in different angles around them
- Encourage them to lift their heads, support themselves on their arms while reaching and playing with the toys
- Balloon keep ups:
- Great for building core strength in sitting positions
- Have your child sit on the floor and hit a balloon back and forth between each other
- Hit the balloon slightly off to the side or above them to challenge their core strength
- Yoga ball balance
- Place your child on a large exercise ball, slightly support them at the trunk if needed
- Roll the ball slowly in different directions, asking them to balance and keep themselves upright
- You can make this harder by asking them to do perform a task with their arms at the same time ex. bouncing a ball, throwing at a target
- Wheelbarrow walks
- Have your child lie on their stomach, hands flat on the floor
- Pick them up by their hips (easier) or knees/ankles (harder) and ask them to walk across the room
- You can give them a task such as picking objects up off the floor or changing the speed at which they walk to make this harder
- Animal walks
- Bear walks, crab walks, frog jumps and more!
- You can get creative and ask them to make their own animals as well and show you how they would move
- Obstacle courses
- Whether they are inside or outside, creating fun obstacles that challenge them in different ways will get their attention
- Army crawl under a line of chairs, jump over some cushions, there are infinite options
Worried about milestones or want to learn more exercises for kids?
Look for PhysioNow! We offer Pediatric Physiotherapy with expert clinicians. Milestones are always a source of anxiety for parents, and we want to help! Whatever your concern may be, rest assured that we will listen and help you and your little ones. Find us at 1 of our 10 locations across the West GTA including Burlington, Oakville, Missisauga and Etobicoke. Book with PhysioNow today for your child’s first assessment and treatment! Or contact us for more information at P: 289-724-0448 or Email: applewood@physionow.ca
