1. Enabling children to thrive 24th November 2016 St Bernadette School
Physical Development
Enabling children to thrive
24th November 2016
St Bernadette School
KD 2016

2. Aims
To gain an awareness of the importance of physical development as a prime area of learning.
To give you some practical manageable ways of supporting your child’s physical development at home.
KD 2016

3. The importance of Physical Development
Generally our lives have become more inactive and our children have less opportunity for physical activity each day.
Some reasons for our increased inactivity include:
Excessive television watching
Fewer family members to play with
Fewer safe outside areas to play
Social media
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4. Sit less, move more! The department of health states
‘children of pre school age who are capable of walking unaided should be physically active for at least 180 minutes, spread throughout the day’
Most UK children currently spend minutes less than this per day
Recent survey revealed that 74% of children spend less time outside each day than prisoners (Persil’s Dirt is good’ campaign 2016)
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5. Childhood obesity – A plan for action
We spend more each year on the treatment of obesity and diabetes than we do on the police, fire service and judicial system combined. It was estimated that the NHS in England spent £5.1 billion on overweight and obesity related ill health in 2014/15.
Childhood obesity – A plan for action
August 2016
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6. In early 2017, DfE will launch a campaign to raise awareness of childhood obesity guidelines amongst both early years practitioners and parents. They plan to update the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework to make specific reference to the UK Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines for physical activity in the early years, including active play. Childhood Obesity – A Plan for Action August 2016
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7. Benefits of Physical Exercise
Improved concentration immediately after
Improved co-ordination, rhythm and timing
Increased stamina
Improves behaviour, confidence and self esteem
Increases blood low around he body and therefore provides oxygen to the brain
Better memory
Develops stronger immune systems
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8. Benefits of Physical Exercise continued
Lowers the risk of becoming overweight
Helps children understand the world around them by promoting exploration. This benefits cognitive development and understanding abstract concepts.
Helps spatial awareness and supports achievements in mathematics and language which are related to advanced motor skills
Develops vision
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9. Head to toe, in to out
Motor development proceeds from the head to the feet in sequence
Proximo-distal development proceeds from the centre of the body outwards
Development of body awareness – know where your body is in space and able to move around safely, pressure
Important for a child’s development of self and personal space, promotes success in both fine and gross motor and how to engage with peers e.g. hugging.
So, children who are delayed in their physical development need more time involved in general physical activities before being ready to integrate fine motor tasks.
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10. If these are not working well…
Find it difficult to move in smooth coordinated ways
Have difficulty going up and down stairs
Have difficulty with writing, riding a bike, crawling, buttoning a shirt
Have a lot of trouble doing something when they cannot see with their eyes
Will find it scary to walk down stairs if they are not sure where their feet are
Find it hard to sleep
Use too little or too excessive force
Look for strong pressure input such as squeezing into small spaces, twist legs around each other, swing legs whilst sitting on a chair, grate teeth, flap arms, jump and crash
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11. Gross motor skills
Gross motor skills are movements of large muscles in the body such as arms and legs. These types of movements are easier for a child to control and usually develop faster then fine motor skills. Some of the movements that are considered gross motor are running, walking, skipping, climbing, crawling, rolling, dancing etc.
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12. Fine motor skills
Fine motor skills are the hardest for a child to develop because in order to have fine motor skills you have to have really goo control over your body.
Young children do not tend to have as many fine motor skills as gross motor skills.
Some of the movements that are considered fine motor are grasping, pointing, pinching, squeezing, holding and reaching which are important for writing and other skills such as dressing, cutting using scissors and using a knife and fork.
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13. It is important not to focus fine motor development on writing (pencil orientated tasks) at an early. Many children may not have developed a dominant hand and may not be ready to focus on writing activities. It is important for them to develop the gross movements first.
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14. Individual differences
There are considerable variation in the age at which children are developmentally and neurologically ready to read and write.
Boys are often later than girls in developing fine motor and language skills and the ability to sit still.
Children born prematurely and or summer born can be 9-12 months younger than their peers in terms of neurological/biological development.
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15. Moving and Handling – end of year expectation for Reception
ELG
Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.
Exceeding
Children can hop confidently and skip in time to music. They hold paper in position and use their preferred hand for writing, using a correct pencil grip. They are beginning to be able to write on lines and control letter size.
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16. We want them to be able to…
Moving in different ways i.e. jumping, hopping, skipping, stretching, fastening, cutting
Seeing themselves in relation to others i.e. awareness of space, safe movement
Developing controlled movements i.e. writing, using tools correctly
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17. What are we doing about it at St Bernadette?
Daily busy finger activities focusing on fine motor
Daily hand rhymes
Daily physi-gym
Regular ‘elastic band sessions’
The daily mile
Weekly designated P.E lessons – including dressing and self help for R
Providing opportunities for all movements during CIL – climbing frame, climbing wall, bikes, scooters, especially in Nursery (developing gross first)
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18. we are providing lots of opportunities for:
Turning
Bouncing
Spinning
Sliding
Rolling
Moving fast
Swinging
Dancing
Rocking
Crawling
Tilting
Swaying
Falling
Jumping
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19. Elastic band – great for the core! Make small individual ones!
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20. Physi-gym – crossing the midline, important for reading and writing!
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21. Be a good role model Eat fruit with your children
Share your physical exercise/goals with them: my running numberline!!
Join in in the physical exercise
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22. Health and self care Mastery of healthy lifestyles
Manage basic hygiene and personal needs i.e. dressing, going to the toilet independently, washing hands
Understand the importance of good health and how to keep healthy i.e. healthy foods, exercise
Developing and managing personal safety and well-being i.e. risk taking, seeking help when needed
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23. Feel free to go and explore…
Go and have another look at the activities and take photos
Make sure you have picked up 1 key ring of ideas
I will put all information up on the school website on both Nursery and Reception’s pages including the games A4 sheets
Feedback forms
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24. Thank you for coming and we look forward to seeing all your physical development activities on Tapestry 
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