Physical Development and Health

The physical development and health domain stresses the importance of a child’s physical development as a vital piece to their overall development and education. Component concepts in this domain include: gross motor development, fine motor development and personal health and safety.

Indicators for Physical Development and Health for three year olds include:

  • Explores the use of various drawing and art tools
  • Uses hand eye coordination to perform simple tasks

Indicators for Physical Development and Health for four year olds include:

  • Follows basic health and safety rules
  • Uses strength and control to perform simple tasks

Indicators for Physical Development and Health for five year olds include:

  • Uses writing and drawing tools with some control
  • Performs self care tasks competently

Parents can help children the Physical Development and Health domain by:

  • Setting up obstacle course for children to use different gross motor skills
  • Playing ball with children-catching, kicking and throwing
  • Providing a variety of small manipulative toys for children to play with-legos, pegs in pegboard, puzzles that have increasing difficulty levels as they are ready
  • Providing art materials for children to practice cutting, pasting, painting and drawing
  • Reminding children to pick up their toys so that they will not get broken
  • Giving children the extra time children may need to wash their hands, put on their coats and shoes themselves
  • Allowing children to help with household chores they are able to such as wiping the tables, getting the bread out for lunch, helping to pour the milk
  • Asking children to try different ways to move their paintbrushes on the paper, cut with scissors, stack the blocks
  • Eating healthy snacks and discussing healthy and unhealthy food
  • Being a model of good health and of safety practices-discussing why it is important that everyone buckle up their seat belt or go to the Dr for checkups

The physical development and health domain refers to children’s fine motor and gross motor development as well as the broader issues of health and safety.

The performance indicators listed above are form the Work Sampling System Omnibus Guidelines. For more information on the Work Sampling System, go to http://www.pearsonearlylearning.com/index.html  

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