Question

Discuss the patterns of motor development in middle childhood years.

Answer 1

Middle childhood comprises of ages 7 through 11 years. Some authorities divide middle childhood into early‐middle (ages 7–9) and late‐ middle(ages 10–11) periods.Both gross and fine motor skills continue to refine during middle childhood.

At this stage, children join the school. They continue to grow physically and become faster, stronger, and better coordinated. It is observed that during middle childhood, children become more adept at gross motor activities.During this age group, children run, jump, climb, and balance. Children also enjoy using their hands in detailed ways, too. From early in preschool, children learn and practice fine motor skills. They learn to cut, paste, mold, shape, draw, paint, create, and write in Preschool. These children also learn skills such as tying shoelaces and flossing their teeth. Some children begin to take music lessons for piano, violin, flute, or other instruments. Learning to play an instrument helps children to further develop their fine motor skills. In short, along with the physical growth of children comes the development of fine motor skills with time children become more adept to use these skills.