Physical domain of development: Developmental Domains of Childhood Development

Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development

Perceptual, motor, and physical development are foundations for children’s learning in all domains. Development in these areas allow children to fully explore their environment and interact with people and objects. The domain includes four elements: perception; gross motor; fine motor; and health, safety, and nutrition.

Perception refers to how children use their senses to gather and understand information and respond to the world around them. Infants and toddlers use perception during interactions, for exploration, and to make sense of their experiences. Preschoolers rely on perceptual information to develop greater awareness of their bodies in space and to move effectively to perform tasks, such as kicking a ball to a friend.

Gross motor skills refer to moving the whole body and using larger muscles, such as those in the arms and legs. In infancy, gross motor skills include gaining control of the head, neck, and torso to achieve a sitting or standing position. They also include locomotor skills that emerge in the toddler years, such as walking, throwing, and stretching. Preschoolers gain even greater control over their bodies. This contributes to their increasing confidence and ability to engage in social play.

Fine motor skills refer to use of the small muscles found in individual body parts, especially those in the hands and feet. Children use their fine motor skills to grasp, hold, and manipulate small objects, such as cups, or to use tools, including scissors and paint brushes. As they gain hand-eye coordination, preschoolers learn to direct the movements of their fingers, hands, and wrists to perform more complex tasks, including drawing fine details or stringing small beads.

Health, safety, and nutrition is the fourth element of perceptual, motor, and physical development. Children’s physical well-being depends on several factors, including their knowledge and use of safe, healthy behaviors and routines. Children’s ability to keep themselves safe and healthy, such as communicating to adults when they are hungry or sick, is extremely important and contributes to learning and development in all areas.

To read more about this domain, visit the Interactive Head Start Learning Outcomes Framework.

The Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development domain includes the following sub-domains:

Infants and Toddlers

• Perception
• Gross Motor
• Fine Motor
• Health, Safety, and Nutrition

Preschoolers

• Gross Motor
• Fine Motor
• Health, Safety, and Nutrition

Effective Teaching Practices

The effective teaching practices that follow are grouped in three categories: Interactions, Environment, and Individualization. Examples of ways to support goals for children are provided by sub-domain. It is likely, however, that these practices will also support goals for children in additional domains and sub-domains. This is the nature of teaching and learning in the early years.

Home Visitors

Teaching practices in home visiting are the ways home visitors work with families to provide experiences that support their child’s development and learning, engage in responsive interactions, and use the home as the learning environment. Home visitors:

• Facilitate parent-child interactions
• Engage parents in focusing on their child’s development
• Directly encourage parents to teach, talk, and interact with their child in responsive and warm ways
• Use family activities, routines, and materials in the home for learning
• Collaborate with parents to plan activities and experiences

Home visitors may consider using group care teaching practices in the “Know,” “Do,” and “Improve” sections during home visits and group socializations. They can engage with parents to identify, adapt, and use these practices, or when appropriate, model the practices.

Sub-Domains

Explore Resources

Perception

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Gross Motor

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Fine Motor

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Health, Safety, and Nutrition

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Read more:

Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development

,  School Readiness

Resource Type:
Article

National Centers:
Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning

Last Updated: June 15, 2021

Division of Early Learning – Early Learning and Developmental Standards

I. Physical Development
I. Desarrollo físico

Domain Introduction

During their first five years, young children undergo more rapid and dramatic changes in their physical development than at any other time in their lives. Changes in body proportion, coordination, and strength occur, as does increasingly complex brain development. Children develop remarkable physical, motor, and sensory capacities that enhance exploration and mastery of the environment.

Introducción al ámbito

Durante sus primeros cinco años, los niños pequeños experimentan cambios más rápidos y dramáticos en su desarrollo físico que en cualquier otro momento de sus vidas. Se producen cambios en la proporción corporal, la coordinación y la fuerza, al igual que el desarrollo cerebral cada vez más complejo. Los niños desarrollan capacidades notables incluyendo físicas, motoras y sensoriales que mejoran la exploración y el dominio del entorno.

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II. Approaches to Learning
II. Enfoques de aprendizaje

Domain Introduction

Approaches to Learning is a unique and critical domain of children’s development. Although each of the other domains of development reflects specific content knowledge that document what children know and do, Approaches to Learning is not about specific content knowledge. Instead, it addresses how children deal with new environments, interactions, and discoveries. Approaches to Learning describes children’s attitudes and dispositions toward learning.

Introducción al ámbito

Enfoques de aprendizaje es un ámbito único y crítico del desarrollo infantil. Aunque cada uno de los otros ámbitos de desarrollo refleja un conocimiento de contenido específico que documenta lo que los niños saben y hacen, Enfoques de aprendizaje no se trata de un conocimiento de contenido específico. En cambio, aborda cómo los niños se enfrentan a nuevos ambientes, interacciones y descubrimientos. Enfoques de aprendizaje describe las actitudes y disposiciones de los niños hacia el aprendizaje.

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III. Social and Emotional Development
III. Desarrollo social y emocional

Domain Introduction

As children grow, their ability to establish relationships with peers and with additional adults influences how they view themselves and the world. Positive and adaptive social behaviors result from interacting with others who have different characteristics and backgrounds. With the help of supportive adults, young children expand their capacities to recognize and express their own feelings, and to understand and respond to the emotions of others.

Introducción al ámbito

A medida que los niños crecen, su capacidad para establecer relaciones con sus compañeros y con otros adultos influye en cómo se ven a sí mismos y al mundo. Los comportamientos sociales positivos y adaptativos resultan de la interacción con otras personas que tienen diferentes características y antecedentes. Con la ayuda de adultos que los apoyan, los niños pequeños amplían sus capacidades para reconocer y expresar sus propios sentimientos, y para entender y responder a las emociones de los demás.

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IV. Language and Literacy
IV. Lenguaje y alfabetización

Domain Introduction

Language, communication, and early literacy and writing are critical to children’s ability to learn, work, and play with others. Language and literacy development involves the way children learn to communicate with sounds, words and gestures, and eventually, the way they learn to read and write. Children develop language and literacy through interactions with adults and other children, engagement with materials and instructional experiences.

Introducción al ámbito

El lenguaje, la comunicación y la alfabetización temprana y escritura son críticos para la capacidad del niño de aprender, trabajar, y jugar con los demás. El lenguaje y el desarrollo de la alfabetización involucran las maneras en que los niños aprenden a comunicarse con sonidos, palabras y gestos, y eventualmente, la manera en la que aprenden a leer y a escribir. Los niños desarrollan el lenguaje y la alfabetización a través de las interacciones con los adultos y otros niños, participación en los materiales y las experiencias de la enseñanza.

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V. Mathematical Thinking
V. Pensamiento matemático

Domain Introduction

Mathematics is everywhere and it helps children make sense of their world. Children learn by observing and interacting with their environment and are naturally curious about number and mathematical concepts. Children’s development of mathematical understanding begins in the very first months of life and continues to grow and expand as they interact with others and with the world around them. For young children, math is about number knowledge, patterns, size, shape awareness, and the relationship between objects and space.

Introducción al ámbito

La matemática está en todas partes y ayuda a los niños a darle sentido al mundo. Los niños aprenden observando e interactuando con sus ambientes y por naturaleza con curiosos sobre los números y los conceptos matemáticos. El desarrollo del entendimiento matemático de los niños comienza en los primeros meses da la vida y sigue creciendo y expandiéndose a medida que ellos interaccionan con las personas y el mundo que los rodean. Para los niños jóvenes, la matemática se trata del conocimiento de números, patrones, tamaño, consciencia de formas y las relaciones entre objetos y espacio.

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VI. Scientific Inquiry
VI. Investigación científica

Domain Introduction

Scientific inquiry addresses children exploring the world around them. Children are natural investigators and their levels of understanding deepen over time with varied experiences. Exploration and discovery are ways that young children learn about their worlds by first using their senses and reflexes. The initial spontaneous responses of infants become more purposeful as they gain mobility. The expanding physical and motor capacities of toddlers enable them to engage in ever-widening explorations which can promote new brain connections.

Introducción al ámbito

La investigación científica está centrada en la manera en que los niños exploran el mundo a su alrededor. Los niños son investigadores naturales y sus niveles de comprensión adquieren mayor profundidad a medida que pasa el tiempo y en base a sus diversas experiencias. La exploración y el descubrimiento son maneras en que los niños pequeños aprenden sobre sus mundos, utilizando en primera instancia sus sentidos y sus reflejos. Las respuestas espontáneas iniciales de los bebés pasan a ser más deliberadas a medida que su movilidad va aumentando. Las capacidades físicas y motrices, en constante proceso de expansión en los niños pequeños, les permiten participar en exploraciones cada vez más amplias, las cuales tienen la capacidad de iniciar nuevas conexiones neuronales en sus cerebros.

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VII. Social Studies
VII. Estudios sociales

Domain Introduction

In the earliest years, social studies concepts simply involve children exploring their world and trying to make sense of the social and physical environments. Social interactions form the basis of social studies, therefore in the early childhood arena, each child’s basic social understanding begins with self and family then expands to early education. A sensitive, respectful approach sets the tone for a child’s social learning.

Introducción al ámbito

En los primeros años, los conceptos de estudios sociales se aprenden simplemente a medida que los niños exploran su mundo y tratan de dar sentido a los ambientes sociales y físicos. Las interacciones sociales forman la base de los estudios sociales, por lo tanto, en el ámbito de la niñez temprana, la comprensión social básica de cada niño comienza con uno mismo y la familia y luego se expande a la educación temprana. Un enfoque sensible y respetuoso marca la pauta para el aprendizaje social de un niño.

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VIII. Creative Expression Through the Arts
VIII. Expresión creativa a través de las artes

Domain Introduction

Creative Expression Through the Arts, provides children with opportunities to express ideas and feelings, use words, manipulate tools and media, and solve problems Through the arts, children learn to express what they know, pursue their own interests and abilities and appreciate the contributions of others. They begin to understand that others can be creative in different ways and show appreciation for these differences by asking questions and commenting.

Introducción al ámbito

La expresión creativa a través de las artes proporciona a los niños oportunidades para expresar ideas y sentimientos, usar palabras, manipular herramientas y medios y resolver problemas. A través de las artes, los niños aprenden a expresar lo que saben, a perseguir sus propios intereses y habilidades y a apreciar las contribuciones de otros. Empiezan a entender que otros pueden ser creativos de diferentes maneras y muestran aprecio por estas diferencias haciendo preguntas y comentando.

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GEF DO: physical development | CHILDHOOD-GUIDE

November 18, 2014 admin

In accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard of preschool education , the tasks of the educational area “Physical development” include: on the development of such physical qualities as coordination and flexibility;
– the formation of initial ideas about some sports,
– mastery of outdoor games with rules;
– the formation of purposefulness and self-regulation in the motor sphere;
– the formation of the values ​​of a healthy lifestyle, mastering its elementary norms and rules (in nutrition, motor mode, hardening, in the formation of good habits, etc. ).

Thus, the Standard traces two directions of educational work on the physical development of preschoolers :
1) the formation of a general culture of the personality of children, including the values ​​of a healthy lifestyle, the formation of initial ideas about a healthy lifestyle;
2) physical culture, development of physical qualities.

The selection of these two directions allows more purposefully building the pedagogical process and developing planning.
Planning work in this educational area is designing physical development, forecasting the dynamics and effectiveness of the pedagogical impact on the recovery and gaining experience in the motor activity of each child.

As we know, the specification of tasks in the content of physical development depends on the age and individual characteristics of children. However, tasks for each age period can be divided into three groups .

Health-improving tasks group:
1) health protection and promotion;
2) hardening;
3) development of movements.

Group of learning tasks:
1) formation of ideas about one’s body, health;
2) formation of basic movement skills;
3) the formation of ideas about the mode, activity and rest.

Group of educational tasks:
1) formation of the need for physical improvement;
2) education of cultural and hygienic qualities.

Health problems are solved in the process of meeting the requirements for hygiene and social conditions, good nutrition, rational daily routine, physical exercises.
Teaching and educational tasks are implemented through integration of all educational areas and in the process of the main types of children’s activities – play, cognitive research, motor.

In the heading “Physical development” you will find more detailed information on this direction.

Dear teachers! If you have questions on the topic of the article or have difficulties in working in this area, then write to comments . I will definitely help.

Golovina Bela Gennadievna, site administrator.

Commenting and posting links is prohibited.

Development of basic physical qualities in preschool children by means of health-improving physical culture

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