The Best Baby Toys for Developing Gross Motor Skills

The Best Baby Toys for Developing Gross Motor Skills

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When you’re a parent, you often hear terms like milestones, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills being spoken about by professionals, teachers and other moms and dads. But, all too often, we are not aware of what these terms actually mean and why they are important to your child’s healthy development.

Most of us know that exposing your baby to a range of different toys can help their brain’s development, but which toys are best and for what? Well, we’ve come to your rescue and done the research for you! Check out our list of the best baby toys for developing gross motor and fine motor skills. From colourful stacking blocks to soft plush animals, we've got you covered.

What are Motor Development Skills?

There are two types of motor development skills that babies should develop as they grow up, namely fine motor skills and gross motor skills. It’s important for children to master both types of skills as they grow and luckily for parents, there are baby development toys that can help do just that.

Here’s what they are and how they are different:

Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills refer to the skills that your child needs to complete movements that require accuracy and dexterity. These skills need a coordinated effort between your child’s eyes, hands and fingers to complete. Examples of fine motor skills in practice would be picking up a toy with a pincer grip, picking up a shape and putting it in the correct hole, and building blocks. Eventually, as they grow, fine motor skills will develop into writing, painting, cutting out and more.

Gross Motor Skills

Gross motor skills refer to movements or actions that require the use of the large muscle groups of the body like the legs, arms and body. They are also referred to as whole-body movements and are generally considered to be anything physical in nature from running and swimming, to jumping on the trampoline, playing hopscotch and even sweeping up.

It’s important to have a range of baby toys for motor skills development to enable children to hone both their fine and gross motor skills because it’s important that they can do both.

How Do Toys Help Baby's Development?

Toys play a vital role in developing your baby’s brain. Not only can different toys stimulate both their fine motor and gross motor skills but they can also improve their creativity, socialisation skills, cognitive development and their interpersonal skills too. The key is to choose toys for your baby and child that are age-appropriate, and have been designed to stimulate their abilities for their particular age group.

The Best Baby Toys to Increase Your Baby's Development

When it comes to fine motor skills, the best kind of toys to invest in for your kids is anything that will encourage them to:

  • Stack
  • Push buttons
  • Pull and squeeze
  • Place one on top of another
  • Select shapes to fit into the right holes
  • Do activities with

When it comes to gross motor skills, the best toys are ones that will enable the child to go outside and play with, including:

  • Balls
  • Cars and figurines
  • Plush toys

We stock a wide range of toys for babies and children that are designed to stimulate their fine and gross motor skills development at every age. From birth, you can begin using a play mat to introduce your newborn to senses, different noises and different shapes. Baby toys can help your baby develop hand-eye coordination. When they begin to walk, toys like teddy bears, balls, figurines or cars can encourage them to play outside and use their imagination.

Shop the Dis-Chem range of Baby and Child Toys now.

Where To Buy Baby Toys To Develop Gross Motor Skills?

At Dis-Chem you’ll find a wide array of toys for babies, toddlers and children that will enable them to learn and develop while having hours of endless fun.

FAQs

How can I improve my baby's motor skills?

The best way to improve your infant’s skills is to spend time with them playing with a variety of different toys or tasks. Getting down to their level, or holding them on your lap and speaking to them and playing with them, is the best way.

What causes delayed motor skills in infants?

There can be a lot of reasons why children have delays in motor skills. If they are not being stimulated enough through play, or left alone too often, this could be the cause. If you are worried, it’s best to consult your paediatrician or doctor.

At what age do babies develop fine motor skills?

Most babies begin to start exploring and developing their fine motor skills from three months old.

What happens when my baby has developed gross motor skills?

When your baby begins to sit independently, then crawl and walk, they are able to develop their gross motor skills all the time. That’s why it’s important to do activities with your child like playing ball, jumping on the trampoline and more.


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