7 Ways Screen Time Affects Motor Skills Development in African Children

By Victory Onyenekwe B.Sc. Ed Physical and Health Education. Freelance Health Writer. Medically reviewed by the DLHA Team

A young African boy plays a game on his tablet. Image credit: Google Gemini 

Highlights

• The World Health Organization recommends no screen time for children aged 0-2 years and no more than one hour of screen time for children aged 2-5 years.

• Developing a child’s motor skills is crucial for their overall growth as it improves balance and coordination, strengthens the connection between the hand and eye, builds independence and confidence, enhances social skills and boosts brain development.

• Excessive screen time is associated with a variety of health and developmental issues in children.  It can negatively affect a child’s gross and fine motor skills development, as it displaces physical play, limits hand-eye and foot-eye coordination. It also causes eye fatigue, poor posture, poor social skills and electronic device addiction. 

Introduction

In an era of constantly advancing technology, it is easy for privileged African children in urban cities to gain unlimited access to screens. Allowing a child to spend hours in front of a screen may do more harm than good to the child’s development. Screen time might seem like an effective and simple way to keep your child entertained while you go about chores or daily activities, but it negatively affects motor skills development in children.

The impact of excessive screen time includes sedentary behaviour, poor social skills, eye fatigue, brain fatigue, displacement of outdoor and physical play, limited hand-eye and foot-eye coordination

In this article, you will learn how excessive screen time affects your child’s motor skills development and what you can do to promote a balanced and healthy development in your child or ward.

What Does Screen Time Mean?

Screen time refers to time spent on a device such as smartphones, tablets, computers televisions, and game consoles.

Why and when is Screen Time an Issue? 

The World Health Organization recommends no screen time for children aged 0 – 2 years and no more than one hour of screen time for children aged 2 - 5 years. 

Early childhood particularly the first five years of a child is critical for achieving developmental milestones. Prolonged screen time is associated with:

• Eye fatigue and reduced vision
• Sedentary behaviour or lifestyles leading to obesity
• Poor social skills
• Delayed motor coordination
• Poor language development [limited face-to-face interactions, that affects essential communication skills]
• Electronic addiction
• Poor posture [crouching and lying to watch a screen can affect the cervical and lumbar vertebrae) 
• Poor eye-hand and foot-eye coordination
• Short attention span
• Emotional instability

Ultimately, a child’s development depends on active physical and social engagement, not passive screen exposure.

Related: Child Developmental Milestone for African Parents: Birthday to 12 Months

What are Motor Skills and how are they Developed?

Illustration comparing features of gross and fine motor skills. Click on image to enlarge. Image credit: Google Gemini 

Motor skills are abilities that involve the use of muscles to move the parts of the body and perform actions. Motor skills can be further divided into gross motor skills and fine motor skills.

Gross Motor Skills: 

African children playing football outside their home. Click on image to enlarge. Image credit: Freepik

Gross motor skills use large muscles of the body, this includes coordination and movement of the arms, legs and other large body parts. It can be divided into object control skills and locomotor skills. Gross motor skills serve as the basis for later high motor and special motor skills.

Examples of gross motor skills are walking, jumping, running, pushing an object, throwing an item, and climbing.

Fine motor Skills: 

An African child tying his shoe lace at home. Click on image to enlarge. Image credit Google Gemini 

Fine motor skills use small muscles; this includes small precise movements made with the hands, fingers, wrist, feet and toes. It usually involves coordination between the hand and eye, eye and feet or hand. 

The development of fine motor skills typically starts after gross motor skills, and requires more time. Examples of fine motor skills are writing, drawing, using a spoon, buttoning clothes, and brushing teeth.

Benefits of Developing Motor Skills

Developing motor skills is crucial for children’s growth, leading to numerous benefits, including:

• Improvement of coordination and balance over time by engaging large muscle groups [gross motor skills] such as when throwing a ball or walking and small muscle groups [fine motor skills] for tasks like drawing, and tying a shoe lace

• Strengthening the connection between the hand and eyes, a relationship known as hand-eye coordination, which is a critical skill for a wide range of tasks such as sports, reading, playing musical instruments, and knitting

• Building independence and confidence when children are able to perform daily self-care tasks like brushing teeth, tying a shoe lace, using utensils to eat, and dressing up

• Enhanced social interaction, cooperation and communication skills, by participating in playground activities and sports

• Improved brain development leading to better higher order brain activities such as problem-solving, memory, awareness of the body in space and space in relation to the body and concentration. These help to shape mental growth and improve academic readiness.

7 Ways Screen Time Affects Motor Skills Development

In Africa, as in other parts of the world, the increased use of digital technology in households presents new challenges for child development. Here are seven ways that screen time can affect motor skills development in African children.

• Displacement of Physical Play and Outdoor Activities 

Excessive screen time is often used as a replacement for physical play and outdoor activities. Motor skills development in the African context involves traditional activities like running, playing with makeshift toys, jumping and traditional games, all of which are vital to gross motor development. Prolonged periods of staying indoors promotes sedentary lifestyles in children and reduces their opportunity to build muscle strength, coordination and balance.

• Delays Fine Motor Skills Development 

Although screen activities may involve finger movements like swiping or tapping, they lack the precision and resistance needed to hone fine motor control, unlike traditional activities such as using scissors, buttoning a shirt, writing, drawing or assembling puzzles. 

• Encourages Sedentary Behaviour

Excessive screen time promotes sedentary lifestyle, which involves children spending hours in one position. This behaviour leads to low participation in outdoor activities and physical play causing poor development of gross motor skills. Ultimately sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity, which is a growing concern in the urban cities of Africa. 

• Limits Hand-Eye and Foot - Eye Coordination

While some screen activities such as video games may involve hand-eye or foot-eye coordination. Traditional games and sports provide larger opportunities to build complex coordination. Even simple tasks like carrying a bucket of water, pouring liquid into a container are crucial for improving a child’s ability to coordinate their eyes, hands, and feet. 

• Hinders Neurological Development

The specific neurological pathways for motor control are strengthened through constant movement and use. Excessive screen time can lead to lack of sensory input from the real world. The content gotten from screens does not replace the sensory richness of real-world experience.

•  Promotes Poor Social Skills 

African culture is deeply rooted in communal living and social activities. When children are left alone with a device as a source of companionship, it deprives them of developing social skills, face-to-face interaction and learning social cues.

• Causes Bad Posture

Excessive screen time encourages bad posture such as slouching, forward head tilt, and straining the cervical [neck] and lumbar [lower back] vertebrae which affects the posture of the child.

Related: Physical Activity in Preteens Reduces Risk of Depression and Anxiety 

Practical Alternatives to Screen Time for African Children

African children enjoying a game of skipping rope during recess in school. Click on image to enlarge. Image credit: Google Gemini 

Screen time may not totally be scrapped out from the lives of children. But parents, guardians and educators should set guidelines and monitor the screen time activities of their children. Alternatives to screen time can be explored. These include:

• Sports and games like football, table tennis, various types of board games, card games, puzzles etc., that develop critical thinking, problem solving abilities and coordination.
• Encourage children to explore their natural environment, collect rocks, flowers and identify animals
• Organising play dates and family gatherings to build social skills
• Arts and crafts such as painting, drawing, and DIY crafts
• Exploring cultural sites and engaging in positive local traditions
• Cooking and baking
• Reading and acting out stories together.

Related Source: 10 Healthy Habits to Teach Your African Child 

Wrap up

With the advancement of technology, screen time can be a source of educational content, and may be difficult to avoid. However, you as a parent, guardian, or educator must act to find a balance so your children or wards do not lose contact with the real world, and be immersed in a world of bright lights and fast content.

You must also show good examples, by setting limits to the amount of time you spend on screens, as children learn by example.

Encourage your children and wards to pick up a ball, play with a friend and discover the world with their hands and feet.

Published: October 13, 2025

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