How a child develops physically

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Physical development

According to Child Care and Development by P. Minett, physical development is ‘development of the body’. It’s what a child is able to do with their body at different stages in their development and it varies from child to child. The child goes through several different stages in their physical development there are average ages at which you would expect the child to be able to do something like sit up, walk and talk.  But these times vary a lot because not all children are the same.

There are physical skills that a child needs at physical development proceeds. Motor skills; these are skills which need ‘co-ordination between brain and muscles’ (child care and development by P. Minett). Messages are sent from the brain to the muscles telling them to work. It’s then the child that needs the necessary skills to carry out the task. The child will need to practise these skills a lot until they become automatic to them. Gross Motor skills are the ‘use large muscles in the body’. Some activities which use gross motor skills are running, climbing, walking, jumping and kicking a ball. Fine manipulative skills ‘involve precise use of the hands and fingers’ (Child Care and Development by P. Minett). For example, pointing at an object, drawing a picture, using a knife and fork and writing.

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You could help to develop physical development by doing several things with the child. For example taking the child to a park, they’ll be able to run around and work their muscles, playing games and do different things they wouldn’t be able to do inside. By going to clubs, there’ll be different activities to get involved in and they will be able to practise there skills and get better at them e.g. drawing. Mickel doesn’t get many chances to go to parks and doesn’t go to any clubs. So he isn’t getting enough opportunities to develop his physical ability. ...

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