Physical development milestones and motor activities for young children

¶ … Children

AGE GROUP PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES

There are many milestones for each age. I have selected some that have to do with movement on a small and large scale because I believe that they have to do with the way in which children may be inclined to move a good deal and perhaps exercise in later life.

Infants: [footnoteRef:1] [1: American Pregnancy. First Year Development: Infant Development. American Pregnancy Association. http://www.americanpregnancy.org/firstyearoflife/firstyeardevelopment.html, accessed January 28, 2012.]

Fine (Small) -- hands clench, strong grasp reflex, holds objects, pulls on clothing or blankets.

Gross (Large) -- Turns head, rolls back and forth on stomach, holds weight on feet, bounces when held standing, sits well by about nine months.

Toddlers:[footnoteRef:2] [2: Toddler Developmental Milestones. Parenting Magazine. http://www.parenting.com/article/toddler-developmental-milestones?page=0,1, accessed January 28, 2012.]

Fine -- filling up and dumping out small items, trying to dress and undress, drawing or scribbling, stacking or sorting objects, poking and pinching.

Gross -- Throwing and kicking a ball, pushing and pulling during play, squatting, climbing, running.

3 to 5 Years:[footnoteRef:3] [3: Developmental Milestones. Ages Three, Four, Five. Gross Motor Development: Widely Held Expectations. http://www.dimensionsfoundation.org/media/Develomental_Milestones_3to5.pdf, accessed January 28, 2012.]

Fine -- assembles things, manipulates items, paints, stacks blocks high, cuts paper, good balance.

Gross -- walks agilely, runs around objects, catches balls and throws from overhead, climbs a ladder, alternates feet well.

2. TOYS AND RESOURCES

Physically Active Games (Gross)

The games in this section can be found in a great publication called Gross and Fine Motor Activities for Early Childhood (2007).[footnoteRef:4] The numbers following each item refer to the page numbers in this publication. Details of what they are and how they are used can be found there as well. The 3 to 5-Year games can be found on the site of CodeName: Mom.[footnoteRef:5] [4: Stacy A. Chandler. Gross and Fine Motor Activities For Early Childhood: Infants and Toddlers. Early Childhood Institute, Mississippi State University, 2007. http://www.earlychildhood.msstate.edu/motoractivities/infant-toddler.pdf, accessed January 28, 2012.] [5: Dionna. 23 Gross Motor Games and Activities for Preschoolers You Can Play With Two or More People. Codename: Mama. http://codenamemama.com/2011/08/11/gross-motor-games/, accessed January 28, 2012.]

Infants -- Ball Rolling (4), Bang and Shake (4), Catch the Roller (5), Crawling Fun (7), Dancing Fun (7), Happy Feet (12), Kick-Kick-Kick (14), Make it Spin (16), Pounding Plan (16).

Toddlers -- Baby Basket Ball (54), I can do it book (66), Obstacle Course (68), Riding Around (69), Sponge Shapes (74), Float or Sink (64), Block Music Stories (57), Baby's House (54).

3 to 5 -- Egg Races, Sidewalk Chalk Simon Says, Jump the Brook, Toe Pick-up, Red Light Green Light, Crab Soccer, Touch Game, Preschool Four Square.[footnoteRef:6] [6: Carrie Lippincott. Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers. July 2005. http://make-the-grade-ot.com/Fine%20Motor%20Activities%20For%20Preschoolers.pdf, accessed January 28, 2012.]

Fine Motor Manipulation and Management (Fine)

The games in this section can be found in a great publication called Gross and Fine Motor Activities for Early Childhood (2007). The numbers are page references.

Infants -- Coos & Hugs (6), Dropping Game (8), Find the Noise (9), Finger Puppets (9), Follow the Animal (10), Grab it (10), Handy Clap (11).

Toddlers -- Ball Bop (31), Body Art (32), Boom Down (33), Color Game (34), Drop Box (36), Finger Friends (38), Guess Which Hand (39).

3 to 5 -- Play dough, Newspapers, Spray Bottles, Tweezers, Eye Droppers, Coins & Buttons, Finger Puppets, Tomy Waterfuls Games.

Center-based Equipment (2 ways to use)

For this one I decided to focus on playground equipment with high-quality soft landing materials. Below are the two ways that this equipment can be used for each age grouping.

Infants -- sit in soft landing material, throw and let the materials drop.

Toddlers -- balancing on low objects, sits on swings.

3 to 5 -- climbs ladder, slides with help and alone.

3. PURPOSE OF COLLECTION

As I noted above, I tried to focus on the types of milestones that suggest a tendency for good movement of limbs and activity such as grasping, pushing, pulling, balancing and beginning climbing as the children get a bit older. It is my hope that in doing this the children will be rewarded to the greatest extent possible for the types of activities associated with exercise (and good health). While the early milestones are just a beginning, instructors can begin to make associations with this and start to get the children recognizing the exercise is good and good for them.

In the games category, I tried to continue that theme whenever I could. For the gross motor activities, I selected those activities that sought to encourage the greatest types of movements and a diversity of kinds of actions. Bang and Shake, Happy Feet and Kick-Kick-Kick are good examples of this. There are other ways to ensure good movement, and many of them are associated with fine motor skills too. In choosing the more dramatic activities, it may be possible to instill a desire for this kind of action. Other games and activities that focus on small or fine motor skills can add other features such as eye or thinking coordination.

The biggest significance in the games section was my inclusion of specific types of tasks that include rather common equipment and tools for fun. This was why I included the list of these items as fine manipulation and management items: Play dough, Newspapers, Spray Bottles, Tweezers, Eye Droppers, Coins & Buttons, Finger Puppets, Tomy Waterfuls Games. These are not commercial games and they have direct relevance to everyday needs and interests.