Gross motor skills are larger movements which require whole body movement we make with our arms, legs, feet, or our entire body.

The development of motor skills is from the centre of the body outwards. Motor skills rely on patterns of stability and mobility in the trunk, then the shoulders, elbows and wrists, and then the fingers. Without central trunk control, we would not be able to control the movements of our limbs.

Fine motor skills include the smaller muscle of the hands. Fine motor skills are complex; a number of independent fine motor skills need to work together for a child to appropriately manipulate different objects. For example, hand skills include:

• Reach – ability to move the arm to grasp/place objects
• Grasp – whole hand holding of an object
• Carry – moving an object from one place to another using the hands
• Voluntary release – letting go of an object
• In hand manipulation – moving objects within the hand
• Bilateral hand use – using two hands together
• Hand skills are dependent on postural mechanisms, visual perception, tactile and proprioceptive feedback

Coordination involves the organization of the different elements of your body so they can work together effectively to complete an activity. It includes the ability to control our bodies to carry out sequences of movement for given tasks.

Pupils need good eye-hand coordination to write and catch balls, not just good fine or gross motor skills. To hop, a child needs the initial postural control but also the ability to balance and sequence (or coordinate) movements to move from one place to the next.

Sensory Processing or Sensory Integration includes being able to effectively register and interpret the sensory input a person gets from what’s around them and from their own body. It is about how the brain receives, organises and responds to sensory input in order to behave in a meaningful and consistent manner.