Cognitive Connie
Understanding motor development in early childhood
Early childhood (3–6 years) is a period of rapid motor skill diversification. The basic locomotor repertoire — walking, running, climbing — that was established during toddlerhood becomes more controlled and efficient, freeing attentional resources for the acquisition of new, more complex movement patterns. Skipping (combining a step and a hop) typically emerges around 4–5 years and requires bilateral coordination and rhythmic timing that were not yet available to the toddler. Hopping on one foot — a challenging balance task — develops around 3–4 years, typically on the preferred foot first.
Key figures
Eleanor Gibson
1910–2002Ecological psychology of perception-action: children's developing motor skills systematically expand the affordances (action possibilities) available to them in their environment. Her visual cliff studies showed how locomotor experience calibrates depth perception for navigation.
Anna Sugden
1945–Research on developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and fundamental movement skill development, highlighting the importance of motor competence for physical activity participation and social inclusion throughout childhood.
Key concepts
Fundamental movement skills (FMS)
The building blocks of physical activity: locomotor skills (running, hopping, skipping, galloping), stability skills (balancing, twisting, rolling), and manipulative skills (throwing, catching, kicking, striking). The preschool years are considered the critical window for FMS acquisition; children who do not develop competent FMS are less likely to participate in physical activity in later childhood and adolescence.
Handedness
The consistent preference for one hand in skilled unimanual tasks. Emerges as a reliable individual difference by 4–5 years. Approximately 90% right-handed, 10% left-handed; mixed-handedness is less common. Neurologically linked to hemispheric lateralisation. Left-handedness is a normal genetic variant; the claim that it is associated with cognitive or health disadvantages is not well supported.
Visual-motor integration
The ability to coordinate visual perception with hand movements — essential for drawing, pre-writing, cutting, and ball skills. Assessed using copying tasks (lines, circles, crosses, squares, triangles in developmental sequence). Develops substantially between ages 3 and 6 as the connections between visual and motor cortex mature and as children accumulate practice with drawing and constructive play.
Pre-writing skill progression
Copying sequence provides a rough developmental scale: vertical line (~2 years), horizontal line (~2.5 years), circle (~3 years), cross (+, ~3.5 years), square (~4 years), triangle (~5 years), diamond (~6 years). Pencil grip matures from a fist grip (2–3 years) through a static quadrupod to the dynamic tripod (~5–6 years). These achievements depend on visual-motor integration, fine motor control, and adequate hand strength.
Catching and throwing development
Catching progresses from chest-trapping (3 years) to two-handed arm-extension catch (4 years) to anticipatory repositioning catch (5–6 years). Throwing progresses from a forward fling to an overhand throw with trunk rotation, weight shift, and follow-through by 5–6 years. Both reflect the integration of visual tracking, predictive timing, and coordinated whole-body movement.
Test your knowledge
Sources
Last reviewed August 2025- 1.
Gallahue, D. L., Ozmun, J. C., & Goodway, J. D. (2012). Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
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Standard textbook on motor development across the lifespan, with detailed coverage of fundamental movement skill phases in early childhood.
- 2.
Logan, S. W., Robinson, L. E., Wilson, A. E., & Lucas, W. A. (2012). Getting the fundamentals of movement: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of motor skill interventions in children. Child: Care, Health and Development, 38(3), 305–315.
+About this source
Meta-analysis of interventions to promote fundamental movement skills in preschool and early school-age children.