Developmentally Appropriate Physical Activities in the Early Years

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Developmentally Appropriate Physical Activities
in the Early Years

• Dr. Ingrid Crowther
• November, 16, 2003

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Planned Physical Activities based on
Developmental Outcomes

• Young non-mobile infants need to explore using
  all their senses
• Exploration needs to involve choice
• Key skills to develop at this age are control
  over movement of fine and gross muscles

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Planned Physical Activities based on
Developmental Outcomes

• Mobile infants start to explore their environment
  independently by using all their senses
• The key skills to develop at this age are
  movement through crawling, crawling up and down
  stairs, learning to stand, and learning to walk

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Planned Physical Activities based on
Developmental Outcomes

• Toddlers need to actively explore their
  environment to develop their growing sense of
  autonomy
• The key skill for toddlers to develop are control
  over their movements running, walking,
  climbing, riding

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Planned Physical Activities based on
Developmental Outcomes

• Preschoolers build upon the fine gross and motor
  skills to actively explore the environment
• The key skills to master at this level are
  coordination, balance, endurance, speed,
  flexibility and strength

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Planned Physical Activities based on
Developmental Outcomes

• School-aged children
• Continually refine their skills to become
  increasingly more adept and skilled with motor
  tasks such as riding, playing organized sports

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Encouragement to Gain Awareness about Movement
Concepts

• Body Awareness
• The newborn already gains awareness by being
  touched how the touch feels, where the touch
  is, curling fingers around something, the
  differences in temperature and texture of objects
  touched
• This skill increases with safe free exploration
  of choice

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Encouragement to Gain Awareness about Movement
Concepts

• Space Awareness
• Space awareness includes important concepts such
  as where you are in relationship to something
  else on top of, up, down, over, around, inside,
  outside, in the middle, behind, in front

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Encouragement to Gain Awareness about Movement
Concepts

• Experiences with effort
• How much strength is needed
• How long it takes to run, walk, ride to a certain
  distance
• How to coordinate body parts to climb
  successfully
• How long an activity can be sustained
• How to balance effectively

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Encouragement to Gain Awareness about Movement
Concepts

• Understanding relationships between movements
• Speed and walking, riding, running, stopping
• Friction sliding on various surfaces
• Body movement to encourage an action

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Gain Skill and Self Confidence

• Loco motor tasks moving from place to place
• Climbing up on a non-stable structure such as a
  net requires control over balance, coordination
  of hands, arms, feet and legs, and experience in
  knowing where to place the feet (the child cannot
  see his or her feet) and thus some concept of
  depth perception the distance between the rope
  rungs

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Gain Skill and Self Confidence

• Gain control of non-loco motor tasks such as
  balancing, twisting, rocking or swinging
• Even a simple action such as sitting on a bench
  requires control over balance, twisting the body
  into position to sit comfortably, and climbing
  onto the bench to sit

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Gain Skill and Self Confidence

• Manipulation - coordinating fine and gross muscle
  to control actions
• The structures built required coordination of
  several skills balance large muscles to reach
  and remain steady, fine motor skills to
  accurately balance block on top of another block
  spatial awareness in knowing how close to stand
  to be effective and where to place the block to
  balance op top of the last block

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Gain Understanding of Fitness

• Through daily indoor and outdoor activity that
  encourages development of skills in balance,
  endurance, speed, flexibility and coordination
• Using equipment such as riding toys, balance
  beams, swings, climbers, open areas for running
  and jumping, platforms, and slides

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Gain Understanding of Fitness

• Engaging in active and restful activities
• Warm up simple stretches to music such as using
  the song Head and Shoulders
• Active activity such as running, playing active
  games
• Followed by a cool down simple exercises that
  could lead to later stretching exercises such as
  swaying like a tree in the wind, bouncing balls
  that slow down and eventually fall over and rest

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Physical Activity Integral Part of Program

• Adults discuss how children feel, why their
  bodies are reacting in certain ways such as
  sweating, out of breath
• Offering daily experiences both indoors and
  outdoors

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Physical Activity To Develop Positive Self
Concepts

• Provide opportunities to encourage accomplishing
  relevant tasks independently
• Provide challenges to continually increase
  competence and awareness in physical abilities

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Maximize Success at Physical Activities

• Equipment and materials appropriate for age
  group, such as tricycles that can be ridden by
  pushing or pedalling
• Surfaces to promote certain activities such as
  open areas for running, paths for riding, sturdy
  equipment for climbing

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Inclusive Physical Activities

• Physical activity experiences are suitable for
  all levels of ability
• Physical activities are accessible to all
  children regardless of ability

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Physical Activities are Bias Free

• Physical activity experiences are equally
  available to all children
• Both group and individual activities are
  encouraged
• Cultural variations in activities are encouraged