Motor Development in Children and Adolescents: Key Milestones

Motor Behavior in Children and Adolescents

Key Topics

• The question of innate motor programming
• Orthostatic development and gait
• Motor behaviors between 2 and 6 years (nursery and preschool)
• Aquatic motor behaviors
• Implications for motor development
• Refined motor skills from 6 years to adolescence

Objectives

1. Study motor behavior in childhood and adolescence.
2. Interpret the innate nature of motor programming.
3. Explain orthostatic development and walking.
4. Describe motor behaviors between 2 and 6 years.
5. Identify aquatic motor behaviors.
6. Explain implications for motor development.
7. Distinguish refined and elaborate motor skills.

Forssberg (1978) hypothesized that humans possess a set of innate motor programs deployed with varying efficiency, such as the rooting reflex, breathing, sucking, and swallowing, as well as postural reflexes. The child does not just learn to walk; they learn to control an already established motor process and adapt it to diverse external situations, including crawling, swimming, climbing, grasping, sitting, and standing.

The Question of Innate Motor Programming

Orthostatic Development and Gait

The conquest of verticality and locomotion requires muscle strength to support body weight, neurological development for lower extremity control, and the ability to respond to external stimuli.

Approximate Motor Onset Timeline

• Flip/Roll: 1–9 months
• Sit: 6–9 months
• Crawl: 4–12 months
• Creeping: 7–9 months
• Stand: 9 months
• Walk: 9–15 months

1. Implications for Child Motor Skills

For Pikler (1969), motor performance progresses autonomously without adult intervention. Conversely, Meinel (1984) states that to promote motor development, it is necessary to encourage the child to perform various movements (spins, tumbles, position changes). Different motor actions allow access to both near and distant spaces.

Motor Skills Between 2–6 Years

During the nursery and preschool period, children develop basic motor skills: walking, jumping, and running. Their acquisition is characterized by trial and error. The playful aspect provides reinforcement, which in turn causes the repetition of those behaviors. According to Montagner (1978), there are distinct differences in psychomotor development from the fetal stage through the preschool years.