Physical development in early childhood (ages 2-6) involves rapid growth in height and weight, with growth occurring fastest in the first two years. Brain development also occurs quickly, with the sensory and motor areas growing first followed by the frontal lobes and cerebral cortex. By age 6, children can focus attention and coordinate large motor skills. Puberty begins around ages 8-14, bringing sexual maturation and growth spurts.

2.  Early Childhood
 Age Range : 2-6years old
 Known to us as “Preschool stage”
Physical Development during Early Childhood
Physical Development in Children follows a
Directional Pattern.
1. 1. The rapid increase in body size of the 1st two
years tapers into a slower growth pattern.
On average, children add 2-3 inches in height and
about 6lbs in weight each year. Boys continue to
be slightly larger than girls.

3. 2. Overall growth is clearly in height and
weight.
3. Growth is manifested at the earliest stage,
usually following a cephalocaudal trend in
the lengthening of the neck and torso.
Brain and neck develop under than legs and
trunks.
4. Growth also influenced by genetic factors,
nutrition, physical and psychological
disorder and even climates.

4. 1. Between ages 6 and 12 that children grow
2 to 3 inches high and add 6 lbs each year.
2. At this stage large muscle are coordinated
and they acquire more skills hand-
rendering them able to engage in activities
like motor coordination (ex. Bike riding).
3. Children acquire hand-eye muscle
coordination they are able to engage in
activities involving vision, (ex. Shooting a
basketball, playing piano or violin)

5. 4. Fine Motor Coordination as exemplified in
writing, cutting, and other related school
task.
5. Motor development improves with age.
Involves large muscle movement along with
fine motor skills, controlled by small
muscles.

6.  Between the age of 6 ½ , 8 ½ , and 10 years
in girls and approximately half a year later at
7, 9 and 10 ½ in boys, growth occurs in
spruts.
Motor Development
 Improve fine motor skills and those
involving large muscle.
 Gross motor skills and hand - eye
coordination are improved with agility and
balance added.

7.  Early signs of maturation is adolescence
growth spurt.
 sharp increase in height and weight seen
among in girls aged 9 ½ and 14 ½, and in
boys between 10 ½ and 16.
 Height attained at age 14 to 15 for girls and
18 for boys.

8. Male Female
Wider shoulder Widening of the pelvis
Longer legs relative to trunk Accumulation of fat under the
skin result to more rounded
appearance.
Longer forearms relative to upper
arms and height.
Eye growing faster
Eye growing faster. Lower jaw usually becomes
stronger and thicker
Lower jaw usually becomes
stronger and thicker

9. Puberty- brings about the physical
differences that differentiate females and
males.
Female: Growth of ovaries, pubic hair, breast
development, etc
Male: Growth of testes, growth of pubic hair
and facial hair, sperm in the urine for sexual
maturation.

10. Spermarche- is the first ejaculation of semen
containing ejaculate for the males.
Menarche – beginning of the menstrual cycle
for female.

11. Early Childhood
 Brain continues to develop after birth and
doubles in weight after 6months at which
time it weighs about half that of the adult
brain.
 Proceeds at an uneven pace occurring
between 3 and 10months and between 15
and 24months

12.  The Sensory and Motor Areas are the primary
sites of brain growth during the first spurt
associated with fine motor skills, and eye-
hand coordination improvement, occurs at
ages 6-8.
 In the second spurt of brain growth, the
focus of development shifts to the frontal
lobes and cerebral cortex.

13.  Selective attention allows children to focus
cognitive ability on the elements of a
problem or situation.
 Full myelination of the reticular formation
and the frontal lobes enables the children
between ages 6 and 12 to function more like
adults. In the presence of possible
distraction.

14.  90% of brain growth is reached by the time a
child reaches 9.
 Growth is characterized by interrelated
processes, namely cell proliferation and cell
pruning.
 Cell proliferation takes place during the
first several days in life. It consist of the over
production of neurons and interconnections.

15.  Cell pruning is a continuous process in
childhood phase. It involves the selective
elimination of excess cells and cutting back
of connections.
 The two processes afford fine-tuning of
neural development through experiences
such that frequent interconnections and
retained while infrequent are pruned.
 The demands of the growth processes give
way to changes in the brain metabolism.

16.  The neurons of the association areas -parts
of the brain where sensory, motor and
intellectual functions are linked are
myelinized to some degree.
 Another significant in this stage is the ability
to identify and act a relationship between
objects in space.
 A behavioral test of the lateralization of
spatial perception involves relative right- left
orientation, or the ability to identify what is
right and what is left.

17.  In the teenage years there are two major
brain growth spurts one occurring between
ages 13 to 15. Here the cerebral cortex
becomes thicker and more efficient, more
energy produced and consumed by the brain
during this spurt than in the following years.
 The spurt takes place in parts of the brain
that control spatial perception and motor
functions, that’s the reason why mis-teens,
adolescents abilities in these areas far
exceed those of school aged children.

18.  Second brain growth spurt beginning around
age 17 and which continues into early
adulthood.
 Second brain growth spurt has frontal lobes
of the cerebral cortex as focus of
development.
 Among older teens dealing with problems
requiring cognitive functions is easier than
w/ younger teens.

19.  Life experiences whether better or worse
have lasting effects o the capacity of the
central nervous system to learn and store
information.
 This is why an enriched environment can
enhance the growth and structure of the
brain.
 Chronic malnutrition especially during
prenatal period, causes adverse effect on the
brain.

20.  The midbrain and the medulla are the most
fully developed at birth.
 These parts regulate vital functions like
heartbeat and respiration, including
attention, sleeping, walking, elimination and
movement of head and neck.
 Cortex is developed part of the brain since
birth, the convoluted gray matter wrapped
around the midbrain in involved in
perception, body movement, thinking and
language.

21.  Lateralization – The corpus callosum, grows,
and matures during the early childhood years
at a faster rate than any other period of life.
 It is the brain structure through which the
left side of the cerebral cortex
communicate.
 95% among human brain functions are
laterized through a pattern called left brain
dominance.

22.  5% remaining are account for right brain
dominance.
 In some people they can be mixed
dominance, where some follow the typical
pattern and others are reversed.
 Prevalence right handedness is result to
genetic inheritance through dominant gene.