1.2 Years 3–5

Providing a range of enjoyable daily opportunities for children to move freely from birth onwards plays a vital role in supporting their smooth growth and overall development.

Julia explains in Audio 2 how parents and carers should support babies and young children to engage in movement play throughout the early years.

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JULIA

As a health visitor, it's part of my job to monitor the growth and development of all babies and young children. I encourage all families to be aware that babies are born to move and that all the kicking and squirming movements they make in the womb form an important beginning to their lifelong movement journey. Parents are aware that movement in the womb is a sign the baby is healthy, so it makes sense to ensure babies have as much chance to move freely once they are born.

From birth onwards, raising awareness that babies need to have awake tummy time can help families to think of the baby as a little person needing a chance to stretch out and move freely. Families are often surprised at how strong the babies are and how quickly they start to raise their head and look around. Initially, this can be against the parent's chest or over a rolled-up towel, starting with one to two minutes at a time, aiming to increase gradually to 15 minutes a day minimum.

This is important for the babies to develop core strength, and the movements help them mature their baby reflexes into conscious control of their bodies. Most babies gradually progress from manipulating toys in front of them to pushing up on their hands and knees in preparation for fluent crawling, then sitting, then standing, and finally, walking. It's a natural process that takes time and lots of movement play.

Every time they move, babies and young children are learning more about how their balance system works, also strengthening near and distance vision, increasing spatial awareness, coordination of movement, and how to get where they want to go. At the same time, they learn how to communicate effectively with their caregivers.

Every time a baby sees, hears, or does some new activity, this makes hundreds of new connections in their brains. A baby is learning new things all the time. Every baby has 100 billion brain cells, and only approximately 15% are connected at birth. It is their experiences and interactions that help the children grow their brains and strengthen their bodies. This will support their overall growth and development.

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Most children between 3–4 years are top heavy, small chested, have rounded tummies and short legs. As they mature their necks will lengthen, chests enlarge, shoulders broaden and tummies flatten as core strength develops.

This is the time when issues of overweight and obesity can emerge. According to the National Child Measurement Programme, in 2021/2022, 10.1% of reception age children (age 4–5) were obese, while a further 12.1% were overweight. At age 10–11 (year 6), 23.4% were obese and 14.3% overweight (NHS Digital, 2022).

You will now explore some factors that best support or compromise children’s growth.