Fine and gross motor skill development

A motor skill = is a learned skill that involves voluntary muscle movement to complete a task.

Gross motor skills = larger movements involving the arm, leg, or feet muscles or the entire body
e.g. crawling, running, and jumping are gross motor skills.

Fine motor skills = smaller actions
e.g. picking up things between thumb and finger or using the toes to wriggle into sand or the lips and tongue to taste and feel objects.

Gross motor and fine motor skills develop in tandem because many activities depend on the co-ordination of both sorts of skills.

Eg.

Baby development
3 months = hands together over the chest while lying on their back (a gross motor skill) and then playing with his hands (a fine motor skill).

18 months = shape sorter box = gross motor skills to hold his body steady enough to grasp the shapes firmly and fine motor skills to twist or turn each shape so that it fits into its appropriate hole.

http://www.babycenter.com.au/baby/development/crawling/