The development of motor planning strategies in children

ABSTRACT

Fine motor skills develop in childhood. In this study, we evaluate motor planning in 6- to 11-year-old children using a pegboard and midline crossing task. The results of the pegboard task showed that children modified their strategies of hand use and space use as a function of age, albeit with a transition in the 8- to 9-year-old children. The data from the midline crossing task mirrored these results by showing that the children of this age group changed their hand use in contralateral space. Combined, these findings propose a developmental synchrony between crossing the midline and bimanual coordination, and suggest the establishment of the left hemisphere’s dominance for visuo-manual tasks. Overall, the results highlight that the strategy used for performing manual skills gradually evolve towards mature behaviour, with an important developmental phase at around the age of 8–9 years that impacts the children’s motor abilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Action planning
• hand use
• space use
• bimanual coordination

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.