Young children can develop their gross motor skills through play and exploration.
A few examples of gross motor skills include:
- Walking and running
- Climbing
- Playing a sport
- Carrying objects
While countless toys on the market claim to be essential for promoting gross motor development, the truth is that — aside from using the environment and a child’s own body — there are only a few toys and pieces of equipment I’d consider worth purchasing.
Children are exposed to plenty of equipment and space to build those large muscles — at school, in parks and gardens, at home, and in open outdoor spaces.
If you’d like to buy some gross motor equipment, here’s a list of my top nine recommended items that will make the biggest impact, suit different ages, and be played with for years.
Many of these can also be improvised or handmade — and many are simple, inexpensive items.
1. Balls
At the top of the list is the simple ball. Children should play with playground balls of all types and sizes.
Here are a few types of balls to encourage kids to play with:
- Large bouncy balls
- Toddler soccer balls
- Beach balls
- Sports balls
A variety of ball activities can be played indoors and outdoors, which are great for developing muscles and improving skills like foot-eye and hand-eye coordination.
2. Bats and Rackets
Any kind of bat or racket is a superb gross motor aid, as children learn to handle them and hit balls with them.
Younger children can play with soft baseball bats or small tennis/badminton rackets.
With bats and rackets, they can learn to hit, dribble, bounce and roll balls.
You can improvise and play movement games using any rackets or bats you already have at home — even if they’re adult-sized — such as dribbling a bean bag with a hockey stick.
3. Bikes and Scooters
This one is a must for all kids. No childhood can be complete without a child eventually learning to ride a bicycle on their own!
Pushing and pedalling a bike or scooter requires a lot of coordination and strength, and children need to learn these skills as they progress through gross motor milestones.
All rides that have wheels are a great buy – from buggies/ride-ons and small motorbikes for littlies, to tricycles, scooters and eventually bicycles.
Children also love pulling wagons, which is a great workout.
Skip the motorised vehicles and opt for the classics that will have your child whizzing around in search of adventure while developing their motor skills.
4. Hula Hoops
Hula hoops can be used in so many gross motor skills activities.
Use them as hoops to throw balls through, to create a hopscotch court, or to crawl through in an obstacle course.
Hula hoops are inexpensive and can be used in multiple ways. Here are 12 fun hula hoop games to try.
5. Bean Bags
A simple item like a bean bag can spark a fun game that builds multiple skills.
Bean bags can be bought or made. There are also plenty of online tutorials showing how to make them.
Balance them on your head while walking in a straight line, throw and catch them, toss them into a basket or cornhole board, or hide them for a fun game of bean bag hide-and-seek.
Here are 20 bean bag activity ideas.
6. Skittles and Cones
Skittles, also known as bowling pins, are fun to line up and knock over. Buy a set or make your own with some plastic bottles.
Turn it into an art activity by painting the bottles in different colours. Fill them with a little sand or water so they stand up but can still be knocked over easily.
Another simple but useful item is a set of cones. These can be used to mark out an area for a movement activity.
Dribble a ball around the cones, use them as start and finish markers for a race, or weave in and out of them while hopping with feet together.
Bowling pins can also double up as cones or markers.
7. Balancing Equipment
Having some kind of balancing toy or piece of equipment available is so helpful for teaching kids to balance.
There are various options you could purchase, such as balancing beams, stepping stones, a wobble board, or bucket stilt.
These can be expensive, so while it may be worthwhile getting some for long-term use at school, there are plenty of ways to improvise at home:
- Walk along low walls at a park or outdoor area.
- Use wooden planks as balancing beams.
- Turn over sturdy plastic tubs to use as stepping stones.
- Make your own walking stilts using sandpit buckets — it’s a brilliant idea!
With a little imagination, you can come up with creative ways to help children practise balancing.
Here are 20 simple balancing activities for preschoolers.
8. Skipping Rope
A skipping rope is a really simple yet versatile item that kids will get hours of fun from.
Not only does it teach children to skip with a rope, but it can also be used in a variety of skipping games.
There is so much coordination involved in learning to skip. Although it’s a difficult skill to master and usually takes a few years, you can start toddlers off by simply teaching them to jump with both feet together over a rope held low to the ground.
Skipping gives kids a good workout and develops their balance, coordination, and rhythm, and is good for stimulating the vestibular system.
9. Tunnel
Crawling through tunnels is a wonderful way for children to develop spatial perception and an understanding of their position in space. It also strengthens the muscles.
Simple tunnels can be used in general play or added to an obstacle course for extra fun.
Tunnels — or any crawl-through spaces — can also be created using furniture, pillows, and blankets.
As you can see, none of these top 9 items are fancy or novel toys, but rather old favourites.
Developing gross motor skills in preschoolers and toddlers doesn’t have to be complicated — you can get by with a few well-chosen items and some simple improvisation.
