This document discusses physical development in early childhood from birth to 7 years. It defines physical development as gaining control of one's body through movement and also learning to engage in activities that promote health and motor skill development. The document lists gross motor skills like walking and running that develop large muscles, and fine motor skills like grasping and scribbling that develop small muscles. It provides examples of resources to promote both gross motor skills, such as bikes, scooters, and parachute games, and fine motor skills, like scissors, playdough, and tweezers. Finally, it emphasizes that mastery of physical skills is essential for children's cognitive and social-emotional development.

1. Unit 8 Professional Practice
Physical Development
CACHE Level 3

2. Learning Outcome:-
To understand the role of the
early years practitioner in relation
to provision for physical development
for children from birth to 7 years

3. Aims:-
You will be able to:-
Identify resources for children in relation to support
Physical Development (PD)
Explain the role of physical development
in a child’s learning
Reflect on strategies to promote PD

4. From the moment of birth, babies are
inundated with sensory experiences that they
are eager to explore. Babies watch their
parents/carers with the eyes, attempt to move
toward the warm touch of caregivers and move
their mouths to touch and taste just about
anything they can get in or to their mouths. As
children grow, their abilities to control balance,
movement and fine-motor skills become
increasingly advanced.

5. What is Physical Development?
Physical development is as the title suggests,
about how babies and young children gain
control of their bodies, but it
also includes how children learn about
keeping themselves active and healthy and
how they learn to use equipment
and materials successfully and safely.

6. A child’s development is ‘measured’ in milestones. These are stages of
development which is deemed as normative development for a child of
their age.
•Gross motor skills involve the coordination and control of large muscles
and skills like walking, sitting and running.
•Fine motor skills (or manipulation) involve the coordination and control of
small muscles, and skills like holding a rattle, picking up crumbs and
scribbling with a pencil.

7. Discuss in your groups, what resources could be offered to promote
physical development?
Please use post it notes provided to write down your ideas.

10. Gross Motor Skills Development
Bikes
Scooters
Parachute games
Painting (outdoor-large brushes, water,wall/floor)
Add more here 

11. Fine Motor Skills Development
Scissors
Drawing
Playdough
Tweezers-rice
Threading
Add more here 

12. The large motor development that occurs in young childhood generally follows a
predictable pattern, but each child has their own individual timeline.
Small motor development occurs only after a toddler has gained control and
coordination of his large muscles. When he can coordinate his vision and
hearing along with his large and small muscles, the child can move around and
explore his environment, gaining the sensory experiences necessary for
cognitive development.
As the toddler moves through his environment, manipulating materials and
manoeuvring his body up and down, in, and around objects, he is learning
about how his body works, how it feels, what it can do, and the impact he can
make on his environment. Climbing comes naturally to a toddler and
experiencing the sensations of gravity and movement enable him to develop
visual space perception and a sense of self.

13. Gross motor experiences are necessary for a child to learn, develop self control, relax, and build self
–esteem. Children need opportunities to run, balance, crawl, throw, catch, climb and hop. Rocking,
spinning, water play and swinging are activities that allow children to calm down and are much more
effecting that the over used ‘time out’.
The fundamental movements, running, walking, jumping, climbing, reaching and kicking, lead to more
complex movements and coordination. Stability movements require skills such as bending, stretching
and turning. Loco motor movements include hopping, skipping and sliding, while manipulative
movements include throwing, catching and rolling a ball. Gross motor activities enable children to
develop coordination and control in each of these types of movements.
Children must master fundamental movements and coordination before they can develop small motor
coordination, including drawing and handwriting. Once a child has mastered sensory motor and
physical growth and development, he has most of the skills necessary to grow and be successful in the
other developmental domains.

14. Have we :-
Identified resources for children in relation to support Physical
Development (PD) ?
Explained the role of physical development
in a child’s learning ?
Reflected on strategies to promote PD ?

15. For Your Information

17. Next week, we will be looking at Personal, Social and
Emotional Development.