Physical Development
Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional wellbeing. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand/eye co-ordination which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practise of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence
Physical Development is how young children gain control of their bodies. It also includes how children learn about keeping themselves active and looks at how children learn to use equipment and materials successfully and safely.
What Physical Development means for children
- Children learn by being active and Physical Development takes place across all areas of Learning and Development.
- Physical Development helps children gain confidence in what they can do.
- Physical Development enables children to feel the positive benefits of being healthy and active.
- Physical Development helps children to develop a positive sense of well-being.
- Good health in the early years helps to safeguard health and well-being throughout life. It is important that children develop healthy habits when they first learn about food and activity. Growing with appropriate weight gain in the first years of life helps to guard against obesity in later life.
Physical Development in the EYFS Curriculum
In our EYFS curriculum, physical development is called a 'Amazing Athletes'
Nursery milestones and goals for an 'Amazing Athlete'
Reception milestones and goals for an 'Amazing Athlete'