The document discusses physical development in middle childhood (ages 6-11), emphasizing growth patterns, brain development, and motor skills enhancement. It highlights the importance of nutrition and sleep, noting specific calorie needs and common nutritional problems stemming from poor dietary habits. Additionally, it addresses the evolution of motor skills and the role of physical education in promoting health, social skills, and safety during this developmental stage.

2. MIDDLE CHILDHOOD
6 – 11 YEARS OLD

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4. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
What gains in growth,
brain development,
and motor development
occur in school-age children,
and what are their nutritional
and sleep needs?
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5. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
1. HEIGHT & WEIGHT
 less rapid than in earlier years
 each year grows about 2 to 3 inches
 lower portion of body growing
fastest
 bones lengthen
 muscles become flexible
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ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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2. NUTRITION & SLEEP
essential for normal growth and health
 2, 400 calories each day
 5 years old – 11 hours
 9 years old – 10 hours
 13 years old – 9 hours

7. Nutrition Problems in Middle
Childhood
 Little focus on eating
 Fewer meals with family
 Too few fruits and vegetables
 Too many fried foods
and soft drinks
• Poverty - lack of nutritional food
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8. Nutrition Problems cont.
• By middle childhood, the effects of prolonged
and serious malnutrition are apparent in:
1. retarded physical growth
2. low intelligence test scores
3. poor motor coordination
4. inattention
• Malnutrition for many years - permanent
damage
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9. 3. BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
The brain structure is complex. It
is the product of the interaction
between genetic, epigenetic, and
environmental factors
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10. BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
• As children acquire more complex abilities,
stimulated neurons increase in synaptic
connections and their neural fibers become
more elaborate and myelinated
• Loss in the density of gray matter
(closely –packed neural bodies)
–reflects pruning of unused dendrites.
• Balanced by a steady increase in white
matter
–axons or nerve fibers that transmit
information between neurons to distant
regions of the brain
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• Cortex of temporal lobes thickens, at the
same time, thinning occurs in the rear
portion of the frontal and parietal cortex in
the brain’s left hemisphere.
• The corpus callosum thickens - leads to
improved communication between the two
cortical hemispheres.
• Lateralization of the cerebral hemispheres
increases over the school years.

12. Brain Development
• Brain functioning may also change
because of an increase in androgens
(male sex hormones) that occurs in
both boys and girls around age 7 to 8.
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13. 4. MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD
 Gross Motor Skills Improvements
1. Flexibility
2. Balance
3. Agility
4. Force
 Fine Motor Skills Gains
1. Writing
2. Drawing
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14. Fine Motor Development
– Writing tends to be large at first, and legibility
gradually increases.
– Drawings show gains in
1. organization
2. detail
3. representation of depth
– School-age children not only
– (1) depict objects in considerable detail, they
also
– (2) relate them to one another as part of an
organized whole.
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15. Six-Year Old’s Drawing
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16. Eight-Year Old’s Drawing
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17. Ten-Year Old’s Drawing
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18. Individual Differences
in Motor Skills
 Body build
 Family encouragement, expectations
 School & community lessons
available
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19. Rough and Tumble Play
 Friendly chasing and play-fighting
(wrestling, kicking, tumbling,
grappling) accompanied by laughing
and screaming
 Boys play more physically active
games
 Girls favor games that include verbal
expression
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20. Physical Education
• Physical education classes –
provide for exercise and play
on a regular basis – this
supports:
1. healthy bodies
2. a sense of self-worth as
physically active and
capable beings.
3. the cognitive and social
skills necessary for getting
along well with others.
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21. Accidents in Middle Childhood
 Most common types:
 Motor vehicle
 Bicycle
 Pedestrian
 Prevention
 Teach safety
 Model safe behavior
 Require helmets
 Watch high-risk children more
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EVOLUTIONARY STANDPOINT:
As the child gets older (11 years old), he hones
skeletal & muscle development that may channel
aggression & competition, &becomes a way to establish
dominance within the peer group.
END
OF
PHYSICAL
DEVELOPMENT

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