Movement & Motor Skills Check
How is your child moving, balancing and using their hands?
Have a think about how your child sits, gets about, runs and manages with their hands — the big movements and the fiddly little ones. A few quick questions and you’ll have a friendly read and a next step.
It’s a supportive guide built around familiar milestones, not a diagnosis. Children find their feet at their own pace, so treat the result as a gentle nudge rather than the last word.
How old is your child?
Just pick the closest age — that way we can ask the right questions.
If your child does this sometimes, or has ever done it, go with “Sometimes” rather than “Not yet”. “Not yet” simply means it’s still on its way. There are no wrong answers here, and a couple of “not yet”s is completely normal.
Signs it’s worth getting a little help
- Your child is not sitting on their own by around 9 to 10 months
- Your child is not walking at all by around 18 months
- Your child walks on their toes almost all the time and cannot put their heels down
- Your child’s body feels very floppy or very stiff to hold
- Your child was doing a movement skill, such as sitting or walking, and has lost it
Get help straight away if your child has lost skills they used to have, or doesn’t seem to hear you or respond to sounds (ask your doctor for a hearing test — don’t wait). And if your child is ever in immediate danger or has hurt themselves, call your local emergency number or go to your nearest emergency department now.
✓ Saved on this device — your result and progress stay private, and they’ll be right here whenever you come back.
Based on: CDC “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” developmental milestones (public domain) · ASHA developmental milestones · Our evidence base. A supportive guide, not a diagnosis.
Why Movement & Motor matters
Here’s why this matters more than it first looks: movement is how young children learn. A wobbly climb, a wonky tower, a spoon that misses — each one teaches your child about balance, distance, cause and effect, and their own body in space. Strong, steady movement lets them keep up with other children on the stairs and in the garden, and being able to join in physically is a huge part of feeling like one of the gang rather than watching from the side.
In our clinic we pay just as much attention to the busy little hands as to the big movements. Those small, fiddly skills — pinching, threading, holding a crayon — are the quiet build-up to buttons, cutlery, and one day a pencil that doesn’t tire the hand out. When a child can manage their own body, they get to do things for themselves, and that independence is a real confidence-builder. Every child finds their feet on their own timeline, so a bit of extra practice simply helps that natural progress along.