Building Blocks of Motor Skills
Physical therapy will address impairments through exercise/activities. These are building blocks to develop gross motor skills. They are components that create and sustain movement. These building blocks do not work in isolation and are very intertwined. Activities can address multiple physical components at the same time. For example, an obstacle course can work balance, strength, motor planning, proprioception and body awareness.
Building blocks to develop gross motor skills (Adapted from: Kidsense)
Muscular strength: The ability to exert force against resistance.
Muscular endurance: The ability of a muscle or group of muscles to exert force repeatedly against resistance and over time.
Motor (muscle) planning: The ability to move the body with appropriate sequencing and timing to perform bodily movements with refined control. Being able to make a plan and execute it.
Motor learning: A change in motor (muscle) behavior resulting from practice or past experience.
Postural control: The ability to stabilize the trunk and neck to enable coordination of other limbs.
Sensory processing: Accurate registration, interpretation and response to sensory stimulation in the environment and one’s own body.
Body awareness: Knowing body parts and understanding the body’s movement in space in relation to other limbs and objects.
Balance: The ability to maintain position whether that is static, dynamic (moving) or rotational.
Coordination: Ability to integrate multiple movements into efficient movement. Within this is bilateral coordination.
Crossing Mid-line: The ability to cross the imaginary line running from the child’s nose to pelvis that divides the body into left and right sides.
Proprioception: This is information that the brain receives from our muscles and joints to make us aware of body position and body movement.
Muscle Tone: The resting muscle tension of a muscle which is the continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles. This is set by the nervous system, however PT can help a child gain control of muscle tone through various means.
Range of Motion and Flexibility: Range of motion and flexibility allows ease of movement. Restricted ranges can limit movement. Too much range can make movement harder.