Development of motor skills in 3- to 4-year-olds. Follow your child’s milestones step by step.
Gross motor skill development allows children to improve their balance and coordination and use their large muscles. These abilities helped your little one master certain movements, such as sitting, creeping, crawling, walking, running, climbing, jumping, and more. Developing gross motor skills is also an important step towards developing fine motor skills.
Gross motor skills: 3 to 4 years old
At this age:
Remember that not all children develop the same skills at the same speed. The material on this website is for general information purposes only. In addition, the milestone ages given may vary from source to source. If you’re concerned about your child’s development, speak with a doctor.
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Your child can run more smoothly. They can start, stop, and change speed and direction. They also run with alternate arm movement.
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They can jog backwards.
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Your child can walk, clap, and move their body to the music.
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They can walk along a 10 cm wide beam.
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They can throw a ball and occasionally catch one with their hands if thrown gently.
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Your child can throw underhanded and is starting to throw overhanded (like a baseball pitcher).
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They climb up ropes, slide down, climb ladders, hang from monkey bars, and swing (if someone pushes them) on playground equipment adapted to their size.
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They go up and down stairs by putting one foot at a time on each step and holding the banister.
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Your little one can jump forward with their feet together, over a small obstacle, and down the last step of a staircase, and can hop in place on one leg (e.g., 3 jumps).
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They can balance on one foot for a moment, and up to 5 seconds most of the time.
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They can ride a tricycle and 3-wheeled scooter.
Over the next few months, your child will begin to do the following:
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Catch a large ball that’s thrown faster and from longer distances
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Gallop, run, walk, and tiptoe forwards while playing a group game
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Jump higher and farther with their feet together
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Start to explore somersaulting
Learn how you can support your child’s gross motor skill development through books. (in French)
How can you help your child progress?
Every child is different and develops at their own pace. That said, you can help foster your child’s development by adopting the Comfort, Play, and Teach parenting approach, which can easily be integrated into your daily routine. The table below shows simple, ageappropriate ways to help your child develop their gross motor skills.
Comfort
When you tell your child to throw a ball into a laundry basket or box and praise them and encourage them when they don’t quite succeed, saying: “You’re so good at aiming for the basket,” “Wait to go,” or “Try again!”, | | they develop their hand-eye coordination, gain confidence in their abilities, and want to do the activity again. |
When you play your child’s favourite music and come up with dance moves together, | | they enjoy spending time with you and are proud to show you all the moves they can do. |
When you help your child practise skills that are harder to master (e.g., balancing on one foot or walking along a straight line marked on the floor with painter’s tape), | | they feel safe and gain the confidence to try new motor activities on their own. |
Teach
When you encourage your child to imitate the ways in which different animals move (e.g., walking on all fours like a cat or belly-up to the sky like a crab, jumping in a crouch like a frog, or galloping like a horse), | | they practise different movements and get to use their imagination. They also develop body awareness and coordination through play. |
When you combine nursery rhymes with movements and tell your child to do what you’re doing, like dancing in a circle while singing Ring Around the Rosie, | | your little one associates words with movement, developing their language and motor skills at the same time. |
When you invite your child’s friends over and teach them a simple game like London Bridge, | | your child practises important social skills, such as waiting their turn, and practises coordinating their movements with those of others in a playful way. |
Play
When you do yoga stretches together, such as the cat, downward dog, rabbit, cobra, candle, and rag doll poses, | | your child learns to move their body in a relaxing and creative way to imitate different animals and objects. |
When you set up a simple obstacle course using hula hoops, a table, cones, a beam, or a tunnel to go through, | | your child learns the meaning of words like above, below, around, up, and down. They also practise sequencing movements and explore their body, their surroundings, and space. |
When you give your child simple instructions to follow, like “jump 3 times,” or “turn in place 2 times,” | | they use their listening and calculation skills while showing you their new physical abilities. |
| Scientific review: Josiane Caron Santha, occupational therapist
Research and copywriting:The Naître et grandir team
Updated: November 2025
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Photo: GettyImages/FluxFactory
Resources and references
Note: The links to other websites are not updated regularly, and some URLs may have changed since publication. If a link is no longer valid, please use search engines to find the relevant information.
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Caron Santha, Josiane, and Solène Bourque. Bouger pour grandir : comprendre et favoriser le développement moteur des enfants (0–8 ans). Éditions Midi trente, 2023, 160 pp.
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Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development. Physical Activity in Early Childhood: Setting the Stage for Lifelong Healthy Habits. 2011. child-encyclopedia.com
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Ferland, Francine. Le développement de l’enfant au quotidien : de 0 à 6 ans. 2nd ed., Éditions du CHU Sainte-Justine, 2018, 264 pp.
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Ferland, Francine. Viens jouer dehors! Pour le plaisir et la santé. Éditions du CHU Sainte-Justine, 2012, 122 pp.
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Pathways. “Motor.” pathways.org
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Canadian Paediatric Society. “Your child’s development: What to expect.” Caring for Kids. 2019. caringforkids.cps.ca
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