How to improve gross psychomotor skills at home from 0 to 3 years old 2026

Nowadays, psychomotor skills are very important in children's education, especially in their early years since there is a lot of relationship and interdependence between their development:

• On a motor level, your child will be able to master body movements.
• On a social-affective level, it will help your child lose his fears and give him experience to express his feelings freely.

Some of the exercises that we can do at home depending on their age are the following:

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When the baby is 0-1 years old

1.- Palms-palmitas. It is a game that serves to improve gross motor skills with which we can increase the coordination of lateral movements. The objective will be to touch the palms and we will not need any type of material.

The procedure to do so will be as follows:

• Sit the baby on your lap facing you.
• Clap your hands slowly, while singing a simple melody and saying while you beat the rhythm: “claps, claps, that's coming… (the child's name). Then you tickle him gently so that he has fun.
• Then you take their hands and repeat the song, gradually changing the support from the hands to the wrists and then to the forearm.

2.- Stretch to pick up an object. This exercise aims to improve your ability to attend to your needs without help. The goal will be to reach and grab objects above eye level.

We will need material such as: rope, small toys, etc. We will do it as follows:

• Hang a small, colorful toy above a door or lamp.
• Make sure the object is at a height where the child can reach it easily but stretch.
• When he reaches for the object, praise him and let him play with it for a few minutes.
• Repeat the process several times, but remember that after each activity, (nothing on top of the shelves or tables will be safe).
• Be careful that any heavy or fragile objects, as well as any dangerous objects or substances, are out of reach.

When he is 1-2 years old

1.- Pick up toys from the floor. With this game we want to improve the child's balance.

We will do it as follows:

• Place a toy While picking up the toy, scatter a good number of small objects around the room.

2.- Roll a ball. With this game we aim for the child to be able to follow an object visually, control it manually and direct it back towards an object. The object of the game will be to catch a rolling ball and then make it come back if it helps.

To do it:

• We will sit at a distance of almost one meter from the child.
• We will gently throw the ball towards him.
• When the child begins to get the idea that he should catch the ball when it rolls towards him, start rolling it from different directions and aim towards his left and right side, so that he has to follow the ball visually and then pick it up from either side.

When he is 2-3 years old

1.- Balloon launching. With this game we want to develop gross manual motor skills.

We will proceed as follows:

• We will place balloons in a room.
• We will tell the child to try to keep the balloons in the air by hitting them with their hands and not to let them fall to the ground.
• We can also tell you to direct them to a specific place, such as inside a box.

2.- Kick a ball. We want to improve the gross motor skills of the legs. To play this game we will need a large ball and two chairs.

The procedure is as follows:

• Have the child sit in one chair and you in the other.
• Gently roll the ball toward him with your foot.
• Repeat the action if necessary and then encourage him to kick the ball towards you.

Borja Quicios has a degree in Psychology with a specialty in Education from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He has a Master's Degree in Experienced Psychomotor Skills and an Educational Coach.

Borja Quicios is focused on the world of advising parents on their children's education. In addition, he is the author and founder of the blog "Of children and parents" where topics on childhood education are discussed, such as punishments in childhood, child development or the importance of education in values, among others.