11.5 Supporting Fundamental Movements

Physical Development & Health The Physical Development & Health domain describes children’s physical well-being, knowledge of their body, health, safety, nutrition practices, and development of motor skills. Children who have health problems, delays in development, and frequent illness may suffer from a range of poor educational outcomes.

Children’s knowledge of their body and health impact their development of healthy habits early in life, habits which are key to life- long health. This domain includes skills that enable children to develop healthy habits, such as staying safe, performing self-care tasks independently of others, exercising, and eating healthy food. The development of motor skills allows children to explore and learn about their world and develop healthy bodies. (Colorado Department of Human Services. (2021, October 26). Off to a great start. Colorado Early Learning & Development Guidelines. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://earlylearningco.org/ )

Fundamental movement skills are the foundations on which more complex movement skills are built. Early childhood is a crucial and unique time for developing coordination of the basic movement skills. During this period, daily movement experiences significantly influence children’s patterns of movement and their future as happy, active movers. Children who develop these fundamental movement skills tend to become confident movers and have the building blocks for an active way of life.

Fundamental movement skills emerge following a developmental sequence from simple to more complex body actions. Initially, when children attempt a movement pattern, they move few body parts (e.g., when throwing, move only one arm while the rest of their body remains still). As their movement skills develop, children begin incorporating other body parts (e.g., throwing with one arm while stepping with one foot). Research-based developmental sequences represent common pathways of development and can guide instruction and learning. However, each child’s development is unique and affected by many factors (e.g., genetics, culture, special needs, socioeconomic status, environment, and practice). Teachers should expect variations in individual development.

Fundamental movement skills develop through meaningful interactions with the environment, people, and objects; through both structured (e.g., teacher-guided) and unstructured (e.g., child-initiated play) practice of movement skills; through the integration of fundamental motor skills into the preschool curriculum; and through the integration of fundamental movement skills into the daily home life of children. Children’s movement activities should be designed with consideration of the multiple cultures and diversity of the participants. In addition, teachers need to be sensitive to children with disabilities and special needs and modify the tasks, context, or environment, including appropriate assistive devices and instructional strategies, to facilitate the development of fundamental skills for all children.

Fundamental movement skills include:

Gross Motor Skills

The movement skills that children use to move effectively and efficiently through space. These skills allow children to travel, explore, and discover their environments. Preschool children use locomotor skills in their daily activities to move from one area to another.

Figure 11.2: Running is a locomotor skill that is being refined during early childhood.[2]

1. Gross motor manipulative skills include tossing, rolling, throwing, catching, striking, kicking, bouncing, and punting with objects.

(Colorado Department of Human Services. (2021, October 26). Off to a great start. Colorado Early Learning & Development Guidelines. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://earlylearningco.org/)

Teachers can support children’s developing locomotor skills with the following:

Observe and analyze children’s locomotor skills to facilitate planning for learning opportunities. Promote progressive development of leg strength.

Promote and be aware of the progressive development of coordination of locomotor skills. Encourage practice of locomotor movements in both indoor and outdoor environments.

Use vivid visual information and visual aids that communicate to children in simple ways how to move. Use music, songs, rhymes, and stories to provide rhythmic patterns.

Plan meaningful, purposeful, and connected locomotor activities and games.

Create picture cards representing different ways to move related to children’s cultural background. Allow children to take risks in their physical play.

Figure 11.3: This young boy is practicing his balance.[1]

Teachers can support children’s developing balance with the following:

Design spaces and activities to develop balance following a developmental progression. Incorporate balance activities into the children’s world (such as acting out balancing challenges). Provide opportunities for activities that include both active movements and still body positions.

Post pictures of balance positions and balance activities (can be of culturally representative athletes, dancers, performers, including those with disabilities).

Design the environment so children combine balance skills with fundamental movement skills and movement concepts. Use visual aids, foot and handprints, and objects on the floor to promote balancing skills.

Fine Motor Skills

Skills that allow children to use their arms, hands, legs, and feet to project an object away from the body (e.g., throwing a beanbag) or to receive and absorb the force of an object coming to the body (e.g., catching a balloon). Fundamental motor skills that involve large muscle groups are called gross motor skills (e.g., kicking) and the ones that involve small muscle groups are called fine motor skills (e.g., cutting).

Fine Motor Skills: The control of small muscles for such purposes as using utensils, self-care, building, and exploring.

3.0 Manipulative Skills

Teachers can support developing manipulative skills with the following: Observe developmental sequences of fundamental manipulative skills.

Vary the focus of the manipulative skills (provide opportunities for both arms and legs to move).

Provide a variety of equipment to accommodate individual differences in body size, skill level, and the development of children’s physical and sensory systems.

Create manipulative activities that provide automatic feedback and a sense of accomplishment.[5]

Health Safety and Nutrition

3. Health, Safety and Nutrition: The maintenance of healthy and age appropriate physical well-being, and understanding of healthy and safe habits and practicing healthy habits.

(Colorado Department of Human Services. (2021, October 26). Off to a great start. Colorado Early Learning & Development Guidelines. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://earlylearningco.org/)

 VignetteChildren constructed birds and balls out of paper while playing indoors. They colored the papers using markers of different colors. Children also decorated their creations with colorful feathers and cut out shapes from magazines. They attached these decorations to their birds and balls with glue. When the decorations were dry, the teacher invited them to play with their birds and balls outside. The teacher, Ms. Gupta, previously had designed the outdoor play area by placing some colorful plastic hoops, cones, and shapes on the floor with pictures of the community buildings attached to them. She also drew a line two steps away from the pretend buildings.Outside, she said to the children, “Let’s make the birds fly toward those buildings and see where they land.” The children became excited and began using the throwing action to fly their birds. Some children were much closer to the line, and others stood farther away. While throwing, they began adjusting their proximity to the line. Ms. Gupta said, “How can you move your bodies to make your bird fly up in the sky?” Jamila said, “I know, throw like this [moving her arm up and down].” Lesley said, “We need to step and send the bird up.” Ms. Gupta paused and observed them throwing for a while. One child’s bird was going down fast, and she said, “Xuyen, do you want your bird to go up?” Xuyen replied, “Yes.” Ms. Gupta asked, “How can we do that?” Xuyen shrugged her shoulders as though to say, “I do not know.”Ms. Gupta then suggested, “How about if you throw it toward the sky?” Xuyen moved her arm up over her head in the throwing action, and her bird flew a little longer. She noticed and smiled, then ran to get it and tried again. Ms. Gupta smiled and said, “You moved your arm up this time. That is the way to make your bird go up: keep moving your arm up each time.” Another child was picking up his bird, and Ms. Gupta said, “Yeng, on what building did your bird land?” Yeng said, “The store.” and kept running back to try again. Ms. Gupta said to another child, “Mary, did your bird land in the hospital?” Mary replied, “No, that is the park.” Mary was right. Ms. Gupta continued asking different children about the buildings.[6]

References

• Image by Virginia State Parks is licensed under CC BY 2.0
• Image by the California Department of Education is used with permission

• Image from video by Baan Dek is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
• Image by Cpl. Charles Santamaria is in the public domain
• The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 2 by the California Department of Education is used with permission;

Content by Clint Springer is licensed under CC BY 4.0;

The California Preschool Learning Foundations (Volume 2) by the California Department of Education is used with permission

• The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 2 by the California Department of Education is used with permission

This page titled 11.5: Supporting Fundamental Movements is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer.

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  : Supporting Fundamental Movement Skills by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer has no license indicated.