Considerationsīefore you begin to worry about your young child not meeting specific gross motor goals and objectives, take a few developmental considerations into mind. For example, your child can work to meet objectives such as throwing a ball at a target - such as your arms - or kicking a soccer ball into a goal. Your goals for your child at this stage should play to the more complex motor skills.

According to the child development pro's at PBS Parents, kids in this age group - while still somewhat unsophisticated in their movement and agility abilities - can move in different patterns such as zig-zag or diagonal, can combine motions and have an awareness of their bodies in space. Kindergartners and young elementary school aged kids have motor skills that move well beyond the basics that toddlers and preschoolers have. Goals for kids of this age often include showing more complex abilities and sports-type skills such as kicking a soccer ball, climbing up a ladder at the playground or hitting a tee ball off of a stand. While preschoolers aren't yet total masters of their movements, they can - according the American Academy of Pediatrics' Healthy Children website - skip, hop, climb and even begin to walk up and down stairs unassisted 1. The move from the toddler to the preschool years - between the ages of 3 and 5 - ushers in a new sophistication in gross motor skills. While he might not exhibit perfect proficiency in these actions, he should start to show these types of movements before he is out of the toddler years. Actions such as kicking a ball or jumping in place require the basic coordination of large muscle groups. Another objective that you might have for your young toddler is for him to show the beginning stages of movement coordination 1.

For example, you may set a goal for your toddler to run from end of the backyard to the other, without falling, before he is 36 months. Setting goals and objectives for his motor development during the second year of life may include building basic skills such as walking steadily, running or jumping. When your child begins to walk - typically somewhere around 12 months - he transitions from being a baby to a toddler.

Fun gross moter soccer skills for kids