Teach

Child-development and school-age programs have the opportunity to help children build healthy habits for life. This is done through developmentally appropriate experiences that meet the needs of each child. Your program’s environment, materials, and interactions all play a part. You will work with staff members to make sure they (a) understand the importance of physical activity for children and (b) apply their knowledge every day.

Promoting Physical Development Indoors from Birth to 12 Years

The key to promoting physical development is offering developmentally appropriate experiences. Developmentally appropriate experiences are formed through a decision-making process that considers these concepts (Sanders, 2002):

• Knowledge of child development and learning
• Knowledge of each individual child’s strengths, needs, and interests
• Knowledge of each child’s culture

The concept of developmentally appropriate practice is probably familiar to you. It is the foundation of curricular experiences for young children. As a decision-making framework, however, developmentally appropriate practice is relevant to all of the children and staff in your child-development and school-age programs. Developmentally appropriate physical experiences for children and youth promote maximum health and development. Here are a few examples of developmentally appropriate and inappropriate physical experiences for children from birth to age 12:

It’s also important to remember that children need to develop fine-motor skills, as well. Help staff members think about all the ways they promote fine-motor development:

• Providing a variety of objects for infants and toddlers to manipulate
• Providing writing tools and art materials
• Providing experiences like knitting, construction, musical instruments, sewing, etc. for school-age children

Consider some developmentally appropriate and developmentally inappropriate strategies for promoting fine motor skills:

安排室内环境

The environment plays a large role in the physical development and learning of children. The Learning Environments course provides more information about the importance of indoor and outdoor environments. This lesson will focus on how the environment can be arranged to maximize physical activity and development in a safe way.

For children to understand that physical activity is a priority, there must be spaces designed for physical activity. This can be a challenge in small rooms or spaces that were originally designed for other purposes. However, with some creativity and flexibility, it is possible to create spaces that help children explore and master important physical skills.

我们可以考虑两个级别的环境：中心环境和课堂环境。在中心级别，您可以使用管理层，以确保有专用于身体活动的安全室内空间。学龄儿童有健身房吗？儿童开发中心有一间机动房间吗？如果是这样，这些是提供运动机会的理想空间。确保空间按照儿童可以自由移动的方式排列，同时仍然从各种选项中选择。考虑与团队合作以确保空间被设计成有趣的运动站：一个区域中的呼啦圈，另一个区域的豆袋和桶，在第三个区域的障碍课程。在课堂兴趣区提供书写，绘图和涂装材料，并帮助团队与其空间和材料创造性。例如，遮蔽磁带可以在地板上创建快速，简单，可拆卸的“平衡梁”。

At the classroom level, help staff understand the importance of providing some space for physical activity. This will look different at different ages:

• Infant rooms: areas covered with soft mats where children can climb and explore
• Toddler rooms: a set of ramps or stairs that children can climb
• Preschool rooms: an interest area that is aligned to a story book the class is reading (for example, after reading the nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle,” children go to an area of the room where they can practice “jumping over the moon”)
• 学龄计划：一个带有一个MP3播放器的地区，孩子们可以播放音乐和舞蹈，或者它可能是儿童延伸的瑜伽区域

Promoting Physical Development Outdoors & Arranging the Outdoor Environment

室外环境是自然的设置物理ical activity. In fact, a lot of us may be more likely to associate physical activity with being outdoors. Think about times when you took a walk or a run in your neighborhood, when you walked, hiked, or played games in a park, when you explored a nature trail, or when you spent time gardening or cleaning up your backyard. Those activities probably made you feel good, energized, and even rejuvenated.

The busy lifestyles of families can result in a lot of indoor time for many children. School-age children might spend the majority of their day in a school setting, only going outside for their designated 60 minutes a day. Having a love and respect for the outdoors will increase the chances of children learning to make physical activity a part of their lives. Thinking beyond the timeframes caregivers and teachers typically have alloted for outdoor activity, encourage as much outdoor time as possible; when possible, plan activities that include their natural surroundings and bring the outside indoors to learn about and discover.

应用部分工具来帮助你staff to develop or improve outdoor spaces for active play. Review the guidelines in those documents. Look for several key elements:

• Variety: Make sure there are a variety of surfaces, a variety of materials, and a variety of ways for children to get involved and active.
• Safety: Make sure staff members are aware of safety rules and procedures at all times. Check the spaces and materials often. See the Safety course for more information.
• Participation: Make sure all children have options that interest them. Observe to be sure that children are active.

You can think about creative ways to help staff members support physical growth and development while outside with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers:

• Benches, logs and bridges provide opportunities for practicing sitting, standing and climbing.
• Create paths using different types of surfaces, such as sand.
• 包括沙箱或指定区域，用于挖掘污垢。
• Plant different-colored flowers that children can look at, touch, smell and pick.
• 植物长草柔软触摸。
• Include mobiles, mirrors and other sculptures into your outdoor environment and gardens.
• 为声音和触摸体验创造机会，如涓涓细流，鸟浴和风铃。

对于年龄较大的孩子：

• 提供各种有趣的活动，如骑马玩具或踏板车，玩标签，清除狩猎游戏，平衡游戏，改变方向游戏，障碍物课程，遵循领导，舞蹈，冻结标签或降落伞游戏。
• Encourage children to work together to create their own games and activities.
• 包括儿童的感官体验。

For school-age children, other outdoor activities will be planned. Some examples are:

• Athletic games: School-age children are ready for sports like basketball, soccer, etc. Be creative and encourage staff members to introduce them to new sports or games like bocce or croquet.
• Field-day activities: Activities like sack races, scavenger hunts, balloon tosses and other fun games are great ways to add variety to the outdoors.
• Mock tournaments: Hold tournaments for athletic games or Olympic-style competitions.
• Fitness tests: You can contact local agencies to find information on what physical fitness tests are used for sports and other training.
• Cheerleading: Cheerleading involves coordination, balance and strength. Some children might enjoy writing and developing their own cheers.

确保有空格可容纳这些不同的活动。为各种车站细分的大型开放空间可能非常有用：这种空间可以灵活地使用。与员工合作，确保材料安全地存储在将使用的区域内存。有关其他信息，请参阅安全课程。

满足需求全部学习者

Some children in your program’s care may have conditions that affect their motor development, including physical and cognitive disabilities, neurological and perceptual disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) have a specific plan to help them meet their personal goals and objectives. In general, these children will need changes or adaptations to the curriculum, classroom environment, and daily activities. Children with physical and other developmental disabilities may need related services to ensure they fully access their classroom and school curriculum, activities, environments, extracurricular activities, and school events.

While some children may be able to engage in play and self-help activities with minimal or no assistance at all, other children will need significant supports, and may require the use of assistive technology, including equipment such as wheelchairs or braces or communication devices that enable them to explore their surroundings and interact with others. Other children with physical disabilities may also have visual, hearing, or intellectual impairments that require the use of significant supports and accommodations when it comes to daily classroom activities. Staff members may be working with children who have low muscle tone, leading to poor balance. They will have to support the child’s access and participation in motor activities. They might need support from you, your administrator, a disability specialist, and/or the child's family to brainstorm appropriate supports. Lastly, you may encounter children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder who may sometimes be extremely active, impulsive, or easily distracted. Staff members will need support to help these children have successful participation in your program activities. They may need additional ideas about embedding physical activity in their activity plans. They may need support with planning and organizing their day to meet the child’s needs.

模型

Providing Ideas and Resources for Physical Development Indoors and Outdoors

Promoting physical activity can take a great deal of creativity. Sometimes, staff members may feel like they need permission to incorporate physical activity; this is most common when staff members feel pressure to promote cognitive development or academic skills. It is your job not just to give this permission, but to make physical activity part of the culture of your program. Help staff members think about the many ways they might incorporate physical activity in their weekly plans:

• Placing objects just out of an infant’s reach to encourage looking and stretching
• “Ice skating” in socks on a non-carpeted floor
• Developing an obstacle course based on a story or project a group of children has completed
• Working with teams to develop cross-center “Olympics” or other events that promote fitness and collaboration
• 与儿童或青年共享彼此的爱好：杂耍，线舞，尊敬，针织
• Giving feedback on spaces; exploring the resources available for designing indoor and outdoor active spaces

Helping Staff Support ALL Learners

Staff members might not always know what to do when a child shows little interest in physical activity or when a child has an identified physical disability. It is your role to help staff members build their confidence and competence in supporting all learners. There are several steps you can take to model this process:

• 模型an inclusive and strengths-based vocabulary and approach: Talk about what childrencan做，而不是他们无法做到的。在头脑风暴解决方案到障碍的持久性。如果一个孩子难以捕获球，帮助工作人员认为可以实现措施。它们可以稍微缩小球，以便更容易抓住，使球出球弄皱的报纸和胶带，使其更轻，或者提供不同的物体，如围巾，折腾和捕获。倡导在活动中纳入所有儿童。由于残疾或差异，没有孩子应该坐在活动中。如果一个孩子想要参加，找到一种方法可以安全地发生。
• Seek out resources: Talk to a disability specialist or an adaptive physical educator. These individuals are well-educated and knowledgeable about ways to help promote the physical development of all learners. Invite them to come speak with your staff or to meet individually with teams who need ideas. If used in your program(s), develop Individual Family Service Plans (IFSPs) for children from birth to age three or IEPs for older children who require adaptations to the curriculum, classroom environment, and activities. There are also adaptive sports programs in many communities. Check with your local parks and recreation department about resources or opportunities for children and staff with disabilities. It is your responsibility as a trainer, supervisor, or coach to educate yourself on what resources are needed to support staff. Take the initiative to find resources through internal policies or community partners. If you do not become familiar with the available supports, your staff will not have access to them and they will not be utilized.
• 涉及家庭: Families often know what their children like and what has worked in the past. Talk to families about their children’s development, strengths, and needs in terms of physical development. Discuss families’ goals for their children’s fitness and participation.

Observe

What Do Staff Members Know about Supporting Physical Development?

It is your job to make sure staff members are promoting physical development in their classrooms and programs. Watch this video to hear a few ways staff members promote physical activity.

我们还可以从其他课程中学习很多。以下视频突出了促进儿童开发中心和学龄方案的物理发展所做的工作。在您观察这些示例时，请考虑是否以及如何将想法纳入您自己的计划。