Physical development

• Life stages:

  • Infancy: 0-2 years
  • Childhood: 3-8 years
  • Adolescence: 9-18 years
  • Early adulthood: 19-45 years
  • Middle adulthood: 46-64 years
  • Late adulthood: 65+ years
• Development:

  • 4 areas: Physical, Intellectual/cognitive, Emotional, Social
  • Task: Define each area of development on a whiteboard
• Monitoring the growth of a baby:

  • Health visitors monitor growth and development
  • Measurements plotted on growth charts
  • Centile lines show norms of growth
  • Percentile charts used to track weight and height for age
• How to use a percentile chart:

  • Centile lines show expected range of weights and heights
  • Growth charts measure child's growth according to percentiles
• The 4 principles of growth:

  • Growth rates vary
  • Different body parts have different growth rates
  • Boys grow faster on average than girls
  • Men tend to be taller than women
• Holistic Development:

  • PIES: Physical, Intellectual/cognitive, Emotional, Social
  • Task: Identify activities involving more than one area of development
• Growth is the increase in a measured quantity such as height or weight
• Development is acquiring skills and abilities during different life stages
• One way to measure growth is weight, height, head circumference
• One example of development is learning to walk, talk, ride a bike etc
• A 'developmental norm' is the expected developments of a child by a certain age
• Gross motor skills are larger movements that involve using the large muscles of the body which are needed for mobility
• Fine motor skills are smaller movements that require more precise direction and use smaller muscles
• Newborn babies are also referred to as neonates (the first 28 days after being born)
• Babies are born with innate primitive motor skills called reflexes
• Reflexes include:

  • Rooting reflex: Turn their heads towards any touch on the cheek
  • Grasp reflex: place your finger in the palm they will grasp your finger tightly
  • Startle reflex: if a neonate is startled by a loud noise, they will throw their hands and arms outwards, arching their backs (Moro reflex)
  • Walking reflex: if a neonate is held upright they will make the movement as if trying to walk
• Gross motor skills include activities like crawling, star jumps, playing football, climbing up stairs
• Fine motor skills include activities like colouring a picture, following an object around the room, drinking from a cup with little spillage
• Infants develop their gross motor skills from head down
• By 6 months old, infants gradually control muscles in their neck and back so they can sit, roll and crawl
• Around 12 - 13 months old, the muscles in their legs develop so that they can stand, cruise and walk
• At 2 years old, infants can walk up and down steps, climb onto low furniture and move around on a ride-on toy
• Activities to help develop gross motor skills in infants:

  • Toys that encourage reaching and grasping
  • Tummy time to strengthen neck and back muscles
  • Encouraging crawling and walking
  • Playing with balls to improve coordination
• In early childhood (3-8 years), children's strength and coordination improve
• Fine motor skills in early childhood include activities like turning the pages in a book, buttoning and unbuttoning clothing
• By 3 months old, a baby can hold a rattle for a short time
• By 9 - 10 months old, a baby can use a pincer grip (thumb and index finger) to hold a small object
• By 12 - 13 months, a baby can clap their hands and point using their index finger
• By 2 years old, a toddler is able to turn pages of a book, draw lines and dots and pull on their own shoes
• Activities to improve hand-eye coordination in 5 to 8 year olds:

  • Throwing and catching games
  • Playing with building blocks
  • Drawing and coloring activities
  • Using scissors to cut shapes
  • Playing sports that involve hand-eye coordination
• Fine motor skills involve smaller muscles like fingers, toes, wrists, lips, tongue and smaller movements
• Gross motor skills involve larger muscles like arms, legs and larger movements
• Fine motor skills develop later than gross motor skills and precision improves with practice
• Gross motor skills develop earlier than fine motor skills and require less practice
• Examples of fine motor skills include pincer grip, picking up small objects, holding a rattle / spoon, fastening a button
• Examples of gross motor skills include sitting, crawling, walking, riding a tricycle
• The difference between fine motor skills and gross motor skills is that fine motor skills involve smaller muscles and movements, develop later, and require more precision; while gross motor skills involve larger muscles and movements, develop earlier, and require less practice
• Lifespan stages:
• Birth to infancy (0-2 years):

  • Infant rapid growth, reaching approximately half of adult height by age two
  • Walking typically starts around one year, running by age two
  • Teeth start to appear around 3 months
• Early Childhood (3-8 years):

  • Children continue to grow at a steady pace, developing strength and coordination