Physical Development in Early Childhood

1. Physical Development in Early Childhood Dr. Linda Kight Winter

2. Age 5 • walk stairs • climb • balance • throw a ball • ride bike

3. Age 2 • struggle to walk without falling over

4. Age 3-5 • reach many milestones with increasing coordination

5. Developmental Milestones • Tasks most children can perform at certain ages. • Genetics and experience play a role in the ages on the milestones.

6. Physical Growth in EC • Leads away from unsteadiness of childhood • center of gravity is high in toddlers

7. Cephalocaudal (head to toe) and Proximodistal (near to far) growth

8. Physical Growth in EC • torso grows longer, body lengthens • muscles get stronger • center of gravity shifts closer to belly button

9. Gross Motor Skills • skills like running, jumping, climbing, and throwing, that require the use of large muscle groups in the arms and legs, as well as strength and stamina

10. Developed through… • Running, walking, galloping, tiptoeing • Throwing, catching • Climbing, jumping, rock walls • Balancing and Spinning

11. Activities that foster Gross Motor Development • Follow the leader • Simon Says • Obstacle Courses • Relay Races

12. Activities that foster Gross Motor Development • Dancing • Running Stepping Stones • Bean Bags Balanced on Head • Pretend to be Cars, Planes etc.

13. Rough and Tumble Play • Not violent • Builds Camaraderie • Relieve Tension • Uses several muscle groups at once

14. End of preschool/Beginning of Kindergarten • Start, stop, and change directions while running • Walk up and down stairs while alternating feet • Balance while walking on a beam • Hop on one foot ten or more times • Use a swing independently

15. Fine Motor Development • The coordination of small muscle groups in the arms, hands, and fingers used to complete tasks like drawing, zipping, snipping, tying, and molding with clay

16. Activities that foster fine motor development • Using toys with zippers, buttons, and buckles • Stringing pasta on yarn • Carving designs into clay • Cutting pictures from magazines • Singing songs involving finger play (“Itsy Bitsy Spider”)

17. Lowenfeld’s Stages of Artistic Development

18. Scribbling • 15 months to 4 years • large zigzagging lines and non-descript shapes about which they will tell stories

19. Preschematic • Ages 3-7 • faces, protruding arms and legs, houses, repetitive practice, objects, people floating in space

20. 5 year old

22. 5 year old

23. Schematic • Ages 6-10 • people attached to ground • Closer proportion to real world • blue sky attached to top of page

26. Realism • Ages 9-11 • Details, style, depth and perception appear

28. Fine Motor Milestones bythe end of preschool • Hold a pencil • Write letters • Draw pictures • Cut with scissors • String beads • Button large buttons • Zip a zipper • Eat with fork and spoon

29. Other factors affecting physical development • Prenatal and medical care • Nutrition • Sleep • Environment • Genetics • Disabilities • Poverty

30. Links • http://www.med.umich.edu/1Libr/yourchild/devmile.htm • http://www.kidsgrowth.com/stages/guide/index.cfmhttp://www.pbs.org/wholechild/abc/index.html