Describe advances and contributing factors in gross- and fine-motor development over middle childhood

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: During the school years, children show gains in four basic motor capacities: flexibility, balance, agility, and force. Between 6 and 12 years of age, increases in running speed, jumping (both height and distance), and throwing speed are evident, along with improvements to skipping, catching, kicking, batting, and dribbling. Along with body growth, more efficient information processing play a vital role in improved motor performance.
Fine-motor development also improves over the school years. By age 6, children can print the alphabet, their first and last names, and the numbers 1 to 10 with reasonable clarity. Legibility of writing gradually increases as they produce more accurate letters with uniform height and spacing. Their drawings show dramatic gains in organization, detail, and representation of depth. Around 9 to 10 years, the third dimension is clearly evident through overlapping objects, diagonal placement, and converging lines. School-age children not only depict objects in considerable detail but also relate them to one another as part of an organized whole.