Editorial: Motor Skills and Their Foundational Role for Perceptual, Social, and Cognitive Development

Learning occurs through dynamic interactions and exchanges with the physical environment and the social world. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the contributions of a healthy and well-functioning motor system for children’s learning. Consequently, it seems evident that motor development is critical for children’s understanding of the physical and social world. The current Research Topic examines this timely question and provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the field on the role of motor skills during development. A total of 27 articles, covering applied and theoretical perspectives, are included in this Research Topic and examine the cascading influences of motor skills on perceptual, social, and cognitive processes. The contributions include both general overviews by review articles, presentation of novel findings in empirical articles, and opinion pieces that discuss future directions. Broadly speaking, the Research Topic covers three areas: First, articles that examine and describe the relation between motor skills and cognitive, perceptual, or social skills. Second, articles that discuss practical applications and implications by examining the role played by motor skills in developmental disorders. And third, articles that explore the direct effects of motor experiences on development across domains using training and enrichment paradigms. We will introduce and discuss each of these three areas in the following.