y There is so much focus in Montessori on fine motor skills that we can easily overlook the importance of gross motor skills, the development and coordination of those large muscles and movements.
In the classroom gross motor movements would include movement around the room (moving tables and chairs, walking), lifting, carrying and pouring, practical life activities like window washing or table scrubbing, walking the line. playground but also free play equipment such as climbing frames, ball play and balancing boards.
Maria Montessori knew how integral movement is to intellectual development.
"Mental development must be connected with movement and be dependent on it."
"Movement helps the development of the mind, and this finds renewed expression in further movement and activity." I
In this connection, she believed children didn't need specific games or gymnastics just to keep fit, just for health, we don't need to separate movement and thought. Children need freedom of movement too.
Running, skipping, swimming, riding a bike or climbing a tree - using all those gross motor skills are just as important as taking a tray off the shelves and working at a desk. Life skills, risk taking, fun, physical exertion, problem solving, critical thinking can all come from gross motor play. Gross motor work also lays the foundation for the use of fine motor skills.
