Motor skills in babies

A motor skill is the ability to move your body to carry out a task. Motor skills require the brain, nerves, skeleton, joints, and muscles to work together.

There are two types of motor skills:

• Gross motor skills. Lifting your head, rolling over, sitting up, balancing, crawling, and walking are all examples of gross motor skills.
• Fine motor skills. Using small objects such as a spoon or transferring an object from one hand to the other are examples of fine motor skills.

Most motor skills are developed in childhood. Children usually develop gross motor skills before fine motor skills. Birth defects, injuries, and diseases can cause problems with motor skills.

Factors such as your strength, ability to see and hear, the chance to practice a skill, and support (encouragement) from others can affect the development of motor skills.