The 4 Best Toys For Gross Motor Skill Development - Babies Development

You don't need a lot of fancy, expensive toys to help with your child's gross motor skill development.

In this article you'll learn the top 4 toys I recommend for gross motor development that are safe and won't break the bank.

These are all tons of fun for your little one as well as being developmentally beneficial.

Each of them will also help work on those all important gross motor skills that are so important for major body movement such as walking, maintaining balance, coordination, and reaching.



They're also vital for play and even impact academic skills later in life.

The 4 Best Toys For Gross Motor Skill Development

First Toy to Accelerate Gross Motor Development

There are only a few toys you need to accelerate your baby's gross motor development.

In fact, many common toys that are often seen as beneficial actually provide no benefit and some even hinder gross motor development.

Not to mention some cost hundreds of dollars.

So here is my list of the only toys you need to accelerate your little one's gross motor skill development.

If you're a new viewer you might be surprised that baby walkers aren't on the list.

Regular viewers won't be surprised by this.

The first toy that is on the list is a baby push walker.

This is because baby push walkers are so versatile.

Baby push walkers can entertain and motivate your baby when they're doing tummy time, learning how to sit up, and go into that high kneeling position, pull themselves up into standing, and then walk with support.

So how does a baby push walker help your baby achieve all of these gross motor skills? Well, it's really quite simple.

When your baby is doing tummy time simply place that activity panel in front of them and watch as the sounds and those bright lights coming from that activity panel encourage your baby to actually lift their head.

Then as they get stronger in this position you will notice that your baby will start to reach forward with one hand to touch the buttons and this will improve their balance and coordination skills as well as their upper body strength and stability.

Then when they're learning to sit, you could place that activity panel in front of your baby and watch them as they move forward and backwards to touch and interact with those buttons and keys.

And the act of moving forward and backwards actually helps to develop your baby's dynamic sitting balance as well as increase their overall comfort in moving in and out of their center of gravity which is something that they need to master on the way to learning how to move from sitting into that crawling position.

Then when your little one has mastered sitting and is ready to start practicing that high kneeling position which is a step that they need to master before standing you simply place that activity panel back onto that baby push walker and watch as that sloped surface of the activity panel actually supports your little one into that high kneeling position, and more importantly the buttons and the lights and the music will actually keep your baby in that position as they engage with that activity panel.

Then when your little one is comfortably cruising along furniture or walking around by holding onto your hands, you can simply place that baby push walker nearby for them to hold onto and then start walking with the support of that push walker and then pretty soon they'll start walking independently.

Now while we are on the topic of development if you haven't already, make sure you download the free developmental milestone chart, which you can find by clicking the link in the description box below.

This will give you invaluable piece of mind as you'll know what to expect in your baby's first year of life, as well as when to be concerned.

Second Toy to Accelerate Gross Motor Development

Baby gyms are also a great toy to promote your baby's overall gross motor development and something you're going to be able to use with your little one when they're in that newborn phase all the way up until they start crawling.

Initially, the baby gym is going to provide a safe place for your newborn to play while they're lying on their front, back, or side and help to develop your newborn's neck muscles as they turn the head to look at those hanging toys.

Also, your newborn will visually fixate and then track those hanging toys and this will promote the development of their visual skills.

Then over the next few months, the hanging toys on the arches will encourage your baby to actually reach out and kick them or hit them and this will help to develop the muscles in their arms, legs, tummy, back, and neck.

And these are the muscles that are required to roll over, crawl, sit up, stand, and then walk.

Once your baby has learnt to sit you can actually continue to use the baby gym to encourage them to shift their weight forward to hit or grab those hanging toys and then move backwards into their center of gravity.

And the act of moving forwards and backwards and to the side to actually grab these hanging toys helps to further develop your baby's sitting balance and also develop the foundational skills required to move from sitting into the crawling position.

And this will get them one step closer to crawling.

Third Toy to Accelerate Gross Motor Development

The next toy is definitely going to surprise you because it's so simple, but this toy has the ability to improve your baby's gross motor skills when they're in that tummy time position, in sitting, and also most importantly, trick them into accidentally letting go of the furniture or your hands and work on standing independently.

So what is this toy? It is a lightweight ball and a large lightweight ball so large enough that they can hold it with both hands.

The simple act of rolling a lightweight ball in front of your baby when they're doing tummy time will help to promote their ability to actually lift their head to look for the ball, but also work on their visual tracking skills.

And then as they get a bit more comfortable it will encourage them to reach out to hit that ball.

Then once your little one is sitting up, rolling a large lightweight ball between you and your little one will actually encourage them to start to shift their body weight forward or to the side to reach for that ball.

And all the while they're trying to maintain their balance and this simple act of moving forward or to the side and then coming back into sitting helps to develop their dynamic sitting skills.

And it also gives them the opportunity to learn how to move in and out of sitting which is a skill that they need to master before learning to crawl.

Now, once your baby is able to get into that crawling position a lightweight ball might be the thing that actually motivates them to start crawling.

And as I said before a large lightweight ball is also the perfect toy to encourage your little one to let go of the furniture or your hand and start to stand independently.

Simply hold a large lightweight ball directly in front of your baby while they're holding onto that lounge or that piece of furniture or your hand and watch them accidentally let go of that furniture to grab the ball with both their hands.

And then ta-da! Your baby is accidentally standing independently and this is helping to build their confidence in this position.

Fourth Toy to Accelerate Gross Motor Development

The next toy on my list is an activity table.

If your baby is just starting to stand or cruise when holding onto furniture or your hand, an activity table is an excellent toy to support their gross motor development.

These sturdy tables have moveable parts which often include knobs, buttons, or spinners which help to actually motivate your baby to pull themselves up into standing, to play and then interact with these engaging toys.

The act of moving from the floor into standing and then standing for a prolonged period to play with these toys will help to develop and strengthen the muscles required for your baby to complete these movements and with time as their overall strength and standing balance skills improve your baby will start to cruise around the table and then let go of the table and stand independently to play and interact with these toys.

And these are the skills that your little one will need to develop before they start walking independently.

In addition to getting these toys for your little one to promote their overall development, there are four common toys which are often seen as beneficial but they can hinder a baby's gross motor development if they're overused and they do present a safety risk.