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.
3 and 4-year-olds will be learning to:
- Continue to develop their movement, balancing, riding (scooters, trikes and bikes) and ball skills.
- Go up steps and stairs, or climb up apparatus, using alternate feet.
- Skip, hop, stand on one leg and hold a pose for a game like musical statues.
- Use large-muscle movements to wave flags and streamers, paint and make marks.
- Start taking part in some group activities which they make up for themselves, or in teams.
- Increasingly be able to use and remember sequences and patterns of movements which are related to music and rhythm.
- Match their developing physical skills to tasks and activities in the setting. For example, they decide whether to crawl, walk or run across a plank, depending on its length and width.
- Choose the right resources to carry out their own plan. For example, choosing a spade to enlarge a small hole they dug with a trowel.
- Collaborate with others to manage large items, such as moving a long plank safely, carrying large hollow blocks.
- Use one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips in paper with scissors.
- Use a comfortable grip with good control when holding pens and pencils.
- Show a preference for a dominant hand.
- Be increasingly independent as they get dressed and undressed, for example, putting coats on and doing up zips.
Children in reception will be learning to:
Revise and refine the fundamental movement skills they have already acquired:
• rolling
• crawling
• walking
• jumping
• running
• hopping
• skipping
• climbing
- Progress towards a more fluent style of moving, with developing control and grace.
- Develop the overall body strength, co-ordination, balance and agility needed to engage successfully with future physical education sessions and other physical disciplines including dance, gymnastics, sport and swimming.
- Develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently. Suggested tools: pencils for drawing and writing, paintbrushes, scissors, knives, forks and spoons.
- Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor.
- Combine different movements with ease and fluency.
- Confidently and safely use a range of large and small apparatus indoors and outside, alone and in a group.
- Develop overall body-strength, balance, co-ordination and agility.
- Further develop and refine a range of ball skills including: throwing, catching, kicking, passing, batting, and aiming.
- Develop confidence, competence, precision and accuracy when engaging in activities that involve a ball.
- Develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient. Further develop the skills they need to manage the school day successfully:
- lining up and queuing
- mealtimes
Physical Development Early Learning Goals:
Gross Motor Skills ELG
Children at the expected level of development will:
- Negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others; - Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;
- Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.
Fine Motor Skills ELG
Children at the expected level of development will:
- Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases;
- Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;
- Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.