11 Summary of Week 4
This week you have considered how children physically interact with their environment to develop in a holistic way. You have also seen how important physical development is for all other areas of development.
Therefore, as those who work with or care for young children, it is vital that you have a good understanding of children’s developmental needs and behaviours, that you can recognise when children are demonstrating learning and what the role of the adult should be.
Top tips
- Be active yourself. Put the radio on and dance around the room. Your child will copy you.
- Be a collector. Make a collection of things that enhance your child’s physical development. You might like to make a treasure basket or box. Have a look at what is already in the environment without going out and spending money.
- Ask questions. When you observe your child moving, try to ask questions that enhance their movements. You might find you do this without thinking.
- Be an encourager. Use language that encourages children to extend themselves in physical movement.
- Allow choice. Consider how you encourage autonomy and choice as your child becomes more independent.
- Be a problem solver. If you notice some movement behaviours that are problematic, such as throwing, see if you can introduce activities where children can act out their ideas safely.
Next week you will build on the learning from this week and focus specifically on the links between movement, play and learning. You will explore different kinds of play and how they support physical development. In addition, you will consider how the parent or practitioner can plan for play, including planning an environment that supports children’s physical development and yet, at the same time, does not cost a lot of money to set up.
You can now go to Week 5 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .