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Peds Group Assignment
Peds Group Assignment
Background
There are various motor development theories that clinicians use to assess child
development. They are specific to assess locomotion, postural control, and reach and grasp. The
movement. Children continue to develop a variety of motor plans in response to the task and
increased variation in motor skills as children age (Campbell, Linden, & Palisano, 2006).
Typical four year old gross motor skills consist of walking down four steps without
support, jumping forward six inches with one foot, running and stopping without falling,
standing on tiptoes, and standing on one foot with exceptional balance. When throwing, they use
an overhand toss, upper trunk rotation, and moves arms and legs in opposition. Development of a
mature kick with hip extension and knee flexion also begins at four years of age (PDMS, 2000).
Fine motor skills at this age include beginning to draw recognizable pictures, coloring
inside lines, putting on clothing with buttons and zippers, learning to write capital letters, and
manipulating scissors when cutting simple shapes. They should also be able to feed themselves
Play is an important role in child development. Four year olds enjoy rough and tumble
play with friends, role playing, and manipulation of smaller toys like Legos and beads. The
purpose of this study is to observe specific skills four year olds develop during play.
PTA 2510 SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT 3
Methods
Participants
Four children were observed out of a class of nine students from the Salt Lake
Community College Eccles Early Childhood Education Lab School. There were four females
and five males. Everyone in the class was either four or five years old. The children were
Procedures
A group of four physical therapist assistant students from Salt Lake Community College
went to the Eccles Early Childhood Education Lab School to observe a classroom of four and
five year old children. The group of PTA students observed and recorded locomotion, reactive
and anticipatory postural control, object manipulation, attention span, toy preference, and
feedback and instruction for thirty minutes at the Taylorsville Salt Lake Community College
Campus.
Environment
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
The center activities took place in a classroom that was child friendly. It consisted of
brightly colored walls and a variety of children's toys. Some of these toys included blocks,
Playdough, kitchen toys, coloring paper and markers, Legos, key and locks, dolls, stuffed
animals, and a box of little toys. They had age appropriate artwork on the walls. The tables,
chairs, sinks, and toy cubbies were all easily accessible for the four year olds. There were two
female teachers watching and playing with the children. There was plenty of room for each of
SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
During the observation, all the four year olds got along and played well with each other.
The boys had a tendency to play with the boys and the girls had a tendency to play with the girls.
They communicated with each other and the teachers well. The teachers demonstrated age
appropriate language when talking to the children and stooped down to eye level.
ATTITUDINAL ENVIRONMENT
The teachers were friendly, kind, and made the children feel safe. They all seemed to be
happy while playing and learning. At one point, one of the girls seemed upset and started hitting
herself. The teacher used the strategy of planned ignoring to decrease the challenge behavior. As
the behavior persisted, the teacher led the child out of the room to go for a walk to calm her. The
Results
Locomotion & Object manipulation & Preferred toys & Feedback &
reactive postural anticipatory postural attention span instruction
control control
-Quickly and easily -Held marker and traced a Attention span: Feedback given
transitioned from sit house shape and then -Varied depending from teachers:
to stand colored in the house on the child -“Good job”
-Boys built and -“Thank you for
Reactive Postural Anticipatory postural knocked over working together”
control: control: blocks for 15 - Teachers
-Able to stop quickly -Marker rolled away, so minutes. answered questions
and not run into child anticipated where the -Some girls did a - Teachers
another child. marker would roll and scavenger hunt for responded and
-Able to catch reached for it to keep it from numbers around corrected children
themselves after rolling off of the table the classroom for on names of
tripping -While sitting and coloring, 10 minutes objects Example:
-Placed bucket on child stuck left foot out to -Another girl and “That’s not a
the table before the side while reaching to boy moved crystal you have
falling to prevent the right side with the right between toys found, that’s just a
items from spilling hand for a marker to every 3 minutes colored disc”
out of the bucket maintain balance
-Anticipates force needed to Feedback obtained
kick blocks over from playing with
toys:
-Playdough
challenges different
grasp forces
- Key and lock
facilitates hand eye
coordination
- Kicking over the
blocks gives
feedback on force
needed to knock
over target
Discussion/Clinical Implications
The students observed that the children enjoyed imaginative play and playing in groups.
One example is that some of the girls were in the play kitchen, pretending to feed their baby.
PTA 2510 SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT 6
Another example is that a couple of the boys acted like monsters, building and destroying block
towers. Other four year olds enjoyed more of a cognitive activity like searching around the
classroom for numbers on their list. The classroom offered multiple options for play and
interaction. The children were able to transition easily to the different centers according to their
interests. The children were focused on their individual activities and did not seem to mind that
they were being observed. They were respectful to the teachers and demonstrated good listening
skills.
All children develop differently and within their own time frames. Most of the children
that were observed were developing at a normal rate according to the Peabody Motor
Development Chart. They were able to do tasks listed on PDMS including, stacking four to six
blocks to build a tower, drawing squares with markers, and running and stopping. One of the
children had a very short attention span compared to her peers. She also had some behavioral and
cognitive difficulties that were not observed in the other children, but her fine and gross motor
and signs of delay. PTA’s are expected to observe and treat patients through age appropriate
upon and applying knowledge in a practical setting. The information learned in this observation
can be applied in many different settings that physical therapist assistants will experience within
the workplace.
PTA 2510 SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT 7
REFERENCES
Campbell, S.K. The Child’s Development of Functional Movement. In: Campbell, S.K.; Vander
Linden, D.W. & Palisano, R. J. Physical Therapy for Children. Third Edition. St. Louis:
Folio, M.R. & Fewell, R. R. (2000). PDMS-2: Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (2nd ed.).
Austin: Pro-Ed.
http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/fine-motor-skills-preschool-milestones
WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group. (2006). WHO Motor Development Study:
Windows of achievement for six gross motor development milestones. Acta Paediactrica,
450, 86-95.