Physical Development

Throughout the first five years of life, your child experiences significant physical growth and development. They’re building important motor skills, or the ability to move and control their muscles in a coordinated way. By engaging in play and physical activity, they’re helping develop those skills and their overall physical growth. Many children also have a natural curiosity about the world and their surroundings, leading them to explore their environment.

By providing your child with opportunities to be physically active each day, you’re not only supporting their growth and development, but you’re also helping them “get their wiggles out” by burning off their excess energy. Regular physical activity can improve children’s mood and sleep, which can also mean more sleep for you as their caregiver. When you can, try mixing in some structured play, such as playing a game together, in addition to some unstructured play, like dancing freely to upbeat music. Add in some moderate-to-vigorous intense physical activity, such as jumping, running, hopping, climbing, dancing, and bicycle riding.

Music and Movement:

Engaging in music and movement activities can support physical coordination, balance, emotional expression, communication, and social connections. Adapting music and movement activities for children with special needs could involve adjusting the structure, equipment, or speed of the movement to create an engaging experience.

Gross Motor Activities:

These challenge larger muscles in your child’s body and can be great exercise for your little one. Your preschooler might seem to have endless energy, which can be channeled into fun games that help them develop their gross motor skills:

• Turn Off the Lights and Play Flashlight Tag: When the beam of the flashlight touches your child, they have to tag you with the light.
• Create a Tape Balance Beam on the Floor: Encourage your child to try walking along the tape or balancing on one foot at a time.
• Play “The Floor is Lava” Game: If you have a playground nearby, challenge your child to get from one end of the playground to the other without touching the ground.
  • You can also turn it into an indoor activity. Whenever you say “the floor is lava,” your child has five seconds to get both feet off the floor. They can jump onto the couch, a chair, or a pillow on the ground. Make sure you set the ground rules first on what is safe to stand or sit on.
• Create a Chalk Obstacle Course: Your child can jump over a squiggle or balance on a line. You can even challenge them to copy what you’re doing and practice jumping on one foot, leaping, skipping, and jogging.