EYFS Framework Guide: Physical Development Moving and handling EYFS Framework Guide: Physical Development

Two aspects of PD in the EYFS Moving and handling Health and self-care

What is PD? The moving and handling aspect of physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive and to develop their coordination, control and movement. Health and self-care covers how children can be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.

Early Years Physical Activity Guidelines (Dept. of Health 2010) Physical activity should be encouraged from birth, particularly through floor-based play and water-based activities in safe environments. Children of pre-school age who are capable of walking unaided should be physically active daily for at least 180 minutes (3 hours), spread throughout the day. All under fives should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (being restrained or sitting) for extended periods (except when sleeping).

Moving and handling To help young children to develop their moving and handling skills practitioners should provide lots of opportunities for them to: use large muscle movements to explore their immediate environment develop fine motor control through manipulating materials and using tools and equipment.

How can we support young children to develop their moving and handling skills? Attitudes and ethos The physical environment Opportunities for large movement and physical activity Opportunities for developing fine motor control Building partnerships with parents

Our attitudes and ethos How good are we at encouraging young children to be adventurous and to actively explore their environment? Do we spend time each day interacting with each of the children and encouraging them to be active? How do we show that we value vigorous fantasy play, particularly by boys, as a learning opportunity? Do we do enough to ensure that the girls in our setting are physically active? How do we act as good role models by being physically active ourselves?

Physical environment When did we last look at how cluttered our rooms are, and whether children have enough open space to move around in? How could we resource the outdoor area to encourage children to actively explore in many different ways? Are there enough spaces for climbing, crawling, jumping and digging as well as for running around? Do we make it easy for children to move resources around out of doors, to build dens and creating obstacle courses? Do we have a challenging yet safe environment that encourages all children to be physically active?

Opportunities for large movement and physical activity How do we make it possible for babies and toddlers to enjoy the different surfaces and textures there are to explore out of doors? Do we need to review how we organise the day so children have lots of opportunities for short bursts of active play? How well do we plan activities to encourage large motor movements as well as fine motor control? How could we organise the outdoor environment more creatively so there are more interesting possibilities for physical activity? Do we make enough use of music to encourage movement, indoors and out of doors?

Opportunities for fine motor control How effectively do we use Treasure Baskets and heuristic play to encourage babies and toddlers to manipulate objects and explore materials? How can we improve our collections of interesting resources – shiny things, natural materials, keys, small boxes – that children enjoy exploring and manipulating? Do we have a good enough range of appropriately sized tools and equipment which children can use independently to develop their manipulative skills? How well do we teach children the skills they need to use tools safely and effectively? Are there enough resources for mark making all around the setting, out of doors as well as indoors?

Building partnerships with parents How could we make parents more aware of how valuable free movement is for babies? Do we do enough to help parents see the importance of children who can walk being physically active for at least three hours every day? How can we improve how we share ideas and activities which help to develop children’s movement and handling skills? How can we help parents to understand the need to be a good role model for their children by being physically active themselves. Do we do enough to encourage parents to walk to the setting and provide storage for children’s bikes and scooters?