Problem Areas for Children

Gross Motor Skills

Gross motor skills are movements that encompass the whole body using coordination, large muscles movements and a wide range of body extensions. These movements use both sides of the body and would encompass activities like running, jumping or throwing etc.

Fine Motor Skills

Small muscle movements often occur in the fingers and thumb, requiring coordination, precise hand-eye coordination and the use of the senses to manipulate various objects and activities. The development of these skills allows one to be able to complete tasks such as writing, drawing, and doing up buttons and playing games such as connect four and Jenga etc.

In Hand Manipulation Skills

Similar to “Fine Motor Skills” but uses the fingers and thumb to manipulate objects while still in the hand. For example rolling dice, Picking up the die and shaking them while within the grasp of the one hand and not letting the dice fall out of the hand.

Bilateral Integration

Bilateral Integration refers to the ability to use both sides of the body in a coordinated manner to complete tasks. It also includes the ability to cross the middle of your body. Examples of this include babies banging two blocks together or a preschooler holding scissors with one hand while manipulating the paper with the other.

Hand Eye Co-ordination

The communication that happens between the hands and the eyes and getting the body to do what the brain wants it to achieve. Games that help achieve these goals are ‘The Memory Game’, Jenga, O’s and X’s etc.

Visual Perception

Allowing your mind to remember visual images and differences, the distances between objects and ones self. Games such as Memory help these skills

Visual Motor Integration

Visual Motor Integration uses the body to manipulate objects and items in ways that the brain requires the use of sight and visual responses. Activities such as copying playing copy cat and handwriting incorporate visual motor integration.

Sensory-motor

Sensing where the body is in relation to space and the surrounding environment, using arms to balance and sensing the need to balance one self. Uses mainly gross motor skills.

Motor Planning

Motor Planning uses the brain to plan gross motor and fine motor movements to achieve specific goals. Games include operation, hop scotch.

Dressing

Dressing one self requires a vast range of skill, movement and cognitive information flowing from the brain to the body. Difficult tasks are tying shoelaces into bows, and tying and retying a tie round ones neck.

Self Care

Self care addresses activities such as hygiene, cleaning teeth, washing hair, washing hands, cutting nails etc. These activities require a lot of the above skills outlined.