Physical Development
Physical Development
Intent
It is important that children have opportunities to be active and develop coordination, through gross motor and fine motor experiences. This will enable their all-round development, to lead healthy, active lives. We aim to provide an environment that enables development of core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. This in turn will have a positive impact on developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. We work in partnership with parents to help promote an understanding of the importance of encouraging young children to walk to rather than being pushed in buggies wherever possible.
Implementation
We provide a physically challenging environment. This includes:
- Providing sensory explorations
- Assessing the physical development of children through observation and assessing grip development
- Physical development opportunities are meticulously planned to target children’s developing physical needs.
- These physical development opportunities include challenges to develop targeted muscle groups in the upper body – shoulder pivot, elbow pivot and wrist pivot – on the journey to become an effective writer.
- Opportunities for fine motor strength are planned, using ‘Funky Fingers’ areas of the classrooms.
Introduction of letter formation patterns, starting with gross motor movement
Pre-School → | Nursery → | Reception |
Active and Healthy bodies | ||
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Sensory play | ||
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Many malleable material recipes are available in “Getting ready to write” by Alister Bryce-Clegg, including recipes for those with ‘emergent skill’, ‘developing skill’ and ‘advanced skill’. | ||
Gross Motor Development | ||
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Fine Motor development | ||
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Stages of grip development - Developing gross motor movement Identify which stage of their journey a child is at and plan opportunities accordingly. Some example activities: | ||
Palmer Supinate grip: with shoulder pivot:
Palmer Supinate grip: with elbow pivot:
Digital pronate grip: with wrist pivot:
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Stages of grip development - Developing fine motor movement Identify which stage of their journey a child is at and plan opportunities accordingly. Some example activities: | ||
Modified tripod grasp: Tripod grasp:
Activities should include opportunities to develop:
Pincer grasp or grip Picking up small items using thumb and index finger. First stage of this - Children may use all fingers to rake items into palm. Next stage - They may pinch items with thumb against the side of the index finger. Accomplished grip – Use end of thumb and fore finger in pincer grasp to manipulate small objects. Palm arches There are several arches in the palm that enable the hand to grasp a range of different objects of various sizes and shapes. These arches direct the skilled movement of the fingers and control the power of the grasp. In-hand manipulation To move and position objects within one hand without the assistance of the other hand. Children need lots of practise with items such as elastic bands and pencils, moving them in between their fingers. Also use round objects like conkers or marbles which they can rotate in the palm of one hand. Thumb opposition The ability to turn and rotate the thumb so that it can touch each fingertip of the same hand. Finger isolation To be able to move each finger one and a time. Knuckle, PIP and DIP joints This refers to the joints in your hand, thumb and forefingers. To develop the last joint in your fingers (DIP) you need to work with things that are small and fiddly and malleable materials with a high level of resistance. Bilateral coordination To control both sides of the body at the same time. The most complex level of this is where the body has two completely different movements on each side at the same time, such as cutting with scissors while holding and controlling the paper with the other hand. Crossing the midline The ability to cross your arms and legs over to the other side of your body. Activities to help develop this ability include drawing a horizontal line across a page in front of you without changing hands halfway through. Hand-eye coordination The ability to control hand movement guided by vision. |