GPP – Supporting Gross Motor Development in Babies and Children Under 5 Years: Part 1
Child development is the process by which a child grows physically and mentally, acquiring skills in cognition, communication, movement and coordination enabling them to reach their full potential. Child development is affected by multiple factors including genetics, early child experiences, home and environmental factors.
Support and encouragement of child development in the early years is crucial to laying strong foundations upon which babies can develop and progress through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. Through their universal reach, health visitors and health visiting teams are ideally placed to support families with their child’s development and identify early developmental ‘red flags’.
GPP – Gross Motor Skills Development in Babies and Children under 5 years: Part 2
Gross motor development describes the skills that children develop using their whole body. These involve the large muscles to produce gross movements such as in their legs, arms and trunk.
Health visitors have a unique role in the early promotion of gross motor development and the identification of babies and children with gross motor developmental needs. There are 3 steps to consider when mapping a child’s development against childhood milestones.
