The development process begins as soon as the individual exists in the mother’s womb. The first step of motor development, which basically means movement, is taken with the baby’s movement in the mother’s womb. The movements that increase as the time of birth approaches, lays the foundations of the bond established between the mother and the baby and initiate the mother-infant communication.
After the baby is born, all kinds of activities that the baby performs without any outside intervention and support from another object or living thing are the reflex movements period, and the behaviors are aimless and out of control in this period. The reflex movements period, which is an unconscious process that consists of lifelong behaviors such as breathing, swallowing, coughing, sneezing, blinking, which allows life to continue, leaves its place to the primitive movements period when the baby begins to perceive life.
Primitive movements, which are the first behaviors of the individual voluntarily and consciously, are the period when the unconscious movements that start from birth are controlled by the baby. The steps that are considered the basis of the movements necessary for living are taken in this period.
- Balancing
- Locomotive
- craftsmanship
Primitive movements, including the periods of the body, form the sources of motor development, which starts from the center of the body and follows a path towards the environment. The baby, who first learns to balance the head and neck, performs perhaps the most important gross motor development activities by controlling his body and performing the crawling, crawling and walking cycles. The period of primitive movements, which covers the 0-2 age range, is also the first period when fine motor development, which requires manual skills such as reaching, catching, holding and manipulating, begins.
It is possible to evaluate the period of primitive movements separately as the period up to 1 year old and the period between 1-2 years old. The first 1 year, when reflex behaviors that start with birth are started to be controlled and managed, is considered the stage when reflexes disappear. With the development of the nervous system and reaching sufficient maturity, involuntary activities begin to give way to conscious behaviors. However, although the behaviors are voluntary, they are still uncontrolled and include rough lines. For example, he turns with his whole body to hold an object or wants to grasp it with his whole hand, not with his fingers.
The second stage of the primitive movements period, between the ages of 1 and 2, is the period in which an intense increase in cognitive and mental development and primitive movements is observed. In this process, where the power of perception also progresses, motor and sensory information become meaningful by integrating. With the development of large muscles, balancing becomes easier and walking accelerates. Fine motor activities that require manual dexterity also gain momentum in this process.
