Physical development provides children with the abilities they need to explore and interact with the world around them. The concept of development includes two major categories:
- Normative development concerns the typical (normal) capabilities, as well as limitations, of most children of a given age within a given cultural group. It indicates a typical range of what children can and cannot be expected to do and learn at a given time. Normative development is important because it allows parents and other adults to understand what to expect of a child physically at different ages. For example, expecting a 3-year-old child to zip her own coat would be unrealistic because she still is developing the physical ability to use fingers in that way.
- Dynamic development concerns the sequence and physical changes that occur in all aspects of a child's functioning with the passage of time and increasing experience, and how these changes interact.
Developmental milestones indicate steps in physical ability for a child that should be reflected at different ages, such as during the 3- to 6-month period or between 2 and 3 years. The term motor development refers to physical growth or growth in the ability of children to use their bodies and physical skills. Motor development often has been defined as the process by which a child acquires movement patterns and skills. Genetics, size at birth, body build and composition, nutrition, rearing and birth order, social class, temperament, ethnicity and culture influence motor development. Physical growth follows several basic principles.
Different types of physical movement are important in a child's physical development. Parents and caregivers can benefit from learning the importance of patterns of physical development to support children as they learn to move and develop physical abilities.The types of physical movement that children engage in and are important to their physical development include the following categories:
- Movement of the body from place to place is involved in locomotor movement. Physical abilities such as crawling, walking, hopping, jumping, running, leaping, galloping and skipping are examples of locomotor movement. This type of movement helps develop gross-motor skills.
- Movement of the body while staying in one place is involved in nonlocomotor movement. Physical abilities such as pushing, pulling, twisting, turning, wiggling, sitting and rising are examples of nonlocomotor movement. This type of movement helps develop balance and coordination skills.
- Movement that involves controlled use of the hands and feet is reflected in manipulative movement. Physical abilities such as grasping, opening and closing hands, waving, throwing and catching are examples of manipulative movement. This type of movement helps develop fine-motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
