During which stage do children typically make major advances in gross motor…

Concept

Gross motor skills use the large muscles of the trunk, arms, and legs for whole-body movements such as walking, running, jumping, balancing, and climbing.

Motor development is continuous: basic postural control and mobility emerge first, coordinated locomotor patterns develop strongly in the preschool years, and later stages refine those patterns for complex activity.

Application

The stem asks when major advances in running and jumping typically occur. During ages 3–6, balance, strength, timing, and whole-body coordination improve rapidly, so these locomotor patterns become more controlled and agile.

Contrast

• Infancy (birth–2 years): sitting, crawling, standing, and walking are the dominant progression; running and jumping are only beginning near the end of this period.

• Middle childhood (ages 7–12): established locomotor skills are refined and combined for games, sport, and more complex movement sequences.

• Adolescence (ages 13–18): growth and practice further develop strength, speed, endurance, and specialised performance rather than initiating basic gross-motor control.

Cross-check

A state open-university child-development text states that children make great advances in gross-motor skills such as running and jumping between ages 3 and 6. Preschool movement guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics likewise describes rapid gains in agility and coordination during these years.

Therefore, the best-supported answer is early childhood (ages 3–6).