The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

EDUC 102
HANDOUTS FOR MODULE 10

Physical Development From the Start

When healthy babies are born, their internal systems, such as breathing and eating, are
developed and functional. All infants will require responsive care from loving adults, proper
nutrition, and appropriately stimulating environments to support the best possible physical
development. Infant and toddler physical development occurs quickly, and it is essential to
understand physical development during various stages.

From birth, infants want to explore their world. While each child has his or her own
schedule for development and mastering new skills, infants are often eager early on to move their
mouths, eyes and bodies toward people and objects that comfort or interest them. They continue
to practice skills that let them move closer to desired objects. Ongoing observation and frequent
conversations with their families can help you learn what infants and toddlers are able to do,
what they are learning to do, and in what areas they could use your support.

Infants develop physically from the top down, starting with their heads and necks. At
birth, an infant has a very difficult time holding up his or her head because the neck muscles are
not strong enough to provide support. As infants and toddlers grow, their determination to master
movement, balance, and fine- and gross-motor skills remains strong. Rolling and crawling occur
as infants develop skills in using large-muscle groups. Grasping and picking up objects with
fingers are signs of small-muscle skill growth.

Influences on Early Physical Growth and Development

There is no exact age at which all infants should be able to grasp objects or hold up their
heads without support. Physical development occurs at different times for all children depending
on many factors, such as the child’s unique characteristics, the family’s values and culture, and
the available resources. However, many infants and toddlers experience developmental
milestones at similar times. The chart below outlines information about what infants and toddlers
are likely experiencing and learning during different periods:

Examples of Physical Development Milestones – Infants and Toddlers

  Holds head up with support
2 Months
 Begins to push up when lying on
tummy
 Makes smoother movements with arms
and legs

 Holds head steady without support

4 Months
 Pushes down on legs when feet are on a
hard surface
 Rolls over from tummy to back
 Holds and shakes toys, swings at
dangling toys
 Brings hands to mouth
 Pushes up to elbows when lying on
tummy

 Rolls over both from stomach to back

6 Months
and from back to stomach
 Begins to sit with support
 Supports weight on legs when standing
and might bounce
 Rocks back and forth, sometimes
crawls backward before moving
forward

 Crawls
9 Months
 Sits without support
 Moves into sitting position with support
 Stands, holding on to adult or furniture
for support
 Pulls to stand

 Moves into sitting position without

1 Year
support
 Pulls up to stand and walks alone while
holding onto furniture
 Takes few steps without support of
adult or furniture
  Stands alone

 Walks alone
18 Months
 Runs
 Pulls toys while walking
 Helps undress self
 Drinks from a cup
 Eats with a spoon

 Begins to run
2 Years
 Climbs onto and down from furniture
without support
 Walks up and down starts while
holding on for support
 Throws ball overhand
 Draws or copies straight lines and
circles
 Stands on tiptoes
 Kicks a ball

Keep in mind that the milestones above are simply the average ages at which specific
development is observed.

Certain conditions must exist for an infant or toddler to grow and develop. A young child’s basic
needs, or physical needs, include:
 Food (nutritious and age-appropriate)
 Shelter (protection from harm)
 Warmth
 Clean air and environment
 Health and dental care
 Activity and rest
 We also know that the way we ourselves were raised is important to our understanding of
how and in what contexts children develop. The values and beliefs held by our family and
culture contribute to our knowledge of growth and development.

Culture Impacts How We See and Interpret Behaviors and Development

Because culture shapes so many parts of an infant’s and toddler’s development, you must
understand the practices, beliefs and values of the families you support. Without this
understanding, it is difficult to interpret the infant’s or toddler’s behaviors and development. For
example, you may believe it is important to help toddlers learn to become independent and begin
to feed themselves using fine motor skills. A family, however, may not view independence as
important because they believe it is more valuable to depend upon one another.

Other influences on infant and toddler physical growth and development are:
 Prenatal care and development, including genetic inheritance, family patterns, exposure to
drugs and alcohol; birth experience
 Prematurity (birth before the 38th week of development) and low birth weight may bring
respiration difficulties, vision problems, feeding and digestive problems
 Temperament, or the ways an infant or toddler approaches his or her world
 Family’s composition, lifestyle, level of education and housing
 Maturation, or the sequence of biological elements that reflect a pattern of growth and
development
 Developmental delays or disabilities, including health concerns

You can also review the handout Infant and Toddler Physical Development to learn even more
about important milestones in physical development, as well as variations in timing and rate of
physical development of infants and toddlers.

The Brain’s Role in Physical Development

You can easily observe infants making movements with their bodies and refining their
physical skills. Thanks to advances in research and technology, we can now also see how the
brain changes and grows as young children develop. At birth, the brain is 25 percent of its adult
size and by age 5, it reaches 90 percent of adult size. Early-life interactions and experiences of
infants and toddlers help them make sense of the world and form connections between the
different parts of the brain.
 These supportive experiences and connections help foster more coordination and stronger
muscles. Research tells us that as infants repeat and practice different movements, such as
turning their heads or reaching for an object, they are building and maintaining connections
between brain cells. In essence, the brain is busy making sense of the experience.

It is important for infants and toddlers to have time for these new experiences and to explore the
world around them with you, a trusted and caring adult caregiver. The repeated experience of
safely exploring together helps infants and toddlers learn they can trust you, while also ensuring
that their brains focus on learning, developing, and making connections. If infants and toddlers
do not have nurturing and responsive adults to help keep them safe, their brains will instinctually
focus on survival and will have less opportunity to create and strengthen connections for further
skill development, including physical growth.

Supporting Physical Development for All Learners

Physical development, including gross- and fine-motor skills, consumes the interest of
infants and toddlers as they practice learned skills and look to develop new ones. Healthy
physical development is dependent upon nutrition, brain development, the central nervous
system, muscles, bones and the interactions and experiences that are offered to infants and
toddlers. By recognizing developmental delays during infancy or toddlerhood, early intervention
may be more effective than if the delays were not acknowledged until childhood. Below are
some characteristics of possible physical concerns or developmental alerts:

Signs of Impaired Physical Development - Infants & Toddlers

 Does not notice hands

By 3 months
 Cannot support head well
 Not using hands to grasp or hold objects
  Difficulty sucking
By 6 months
 Not gaining weight or growing in height
 Not responding to sounds and voices
 Does not bring objects to mouth
 Does not roll over from front to back or back to
front
 Stiff limbs (arms, legs)
 Weak limbs (arms, legs)
 Not using hands to grasp or hold objects

 Not pointing to communicate needs or ideas

By 12 months
 Not crawling or sitting on own
 Not picking up small objects

 Not imitating
By 18 months
 Not playing with toys
 Not scribbling or picking up objects to, for
example, put in a container
 Not self-feeding

 Not physically active

By 24 months
 Not scribbling or stacking blocks
 Not showing interest in playing with toys
 Extra sensitive to or avoiding a variety of
textures
  Clumsy or inactive
By 36 months
 Not feeding self
 Not helping dress or undress self
 Not interested in playing with a variety of toys

Delays in physical development may affect more than gross- and fine-motor skills. For
example, if an infant is unable to smile at her or his parents or lift her or his arms to be picked
up, this could impact social and emotional development (e.g., relationship building).

Your supervisor, trainer or coach can help you learn more about the programs and
services available to you and families that help assess and enhance physical development and
learning.

Prepared By:

ERNEST HANS S. MAIGUE

Instructor