PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT-It refers to the biological and

psychological development of the human beings throughout the
life span.

DEVELOPMENTALISTS BREAK THE LIFE SPAN INTO NINE

STAGES AS FOLLOWS:
Prenatal development
Infancy and toddlerhood
early childhood
middle childhood
adolescence
early adulthood
midddle adulthood
Late adulthood
death and dying
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
It is the process that starts in human infancy, and continues into
late adolescence concentrating on gross and fine motor skills as
well as puberty.It involves developing control over the body
particularly muscles and physical coordination.

MOTOR DEVELOPEMENT
It refers to the development of a Childs bones, muscles and ability
to move around and manipulate his or her environment.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING

INFANCY
• At birth an average infant weighs 7 .5 pounds and measures
19.5 inches .Weight in relation to height is less at birth. Boys, on
the whole are slightly longer and heavier than girls.
• The muscles of the newborn infant are soft,small,and
uncontrolled. At the time of birth, less development has taken
place in the muscles of the neck and legs than in those of the
hands and arms.
• The bones like the muscles are soft and flexible because they
are composed chiefly of cartilage or gristle.
• The head is approximately one-fourth of his body length.
• The cranial region, the area over the eyes, is proportionally
much larger than the rest of the head, while the chin is
proportionally much too small.
• The arms and legs of the infant are much too short for his
head and trunk. The hands and feet are miniature.
 • PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
DURING BABYHOOD
• After the initial loss in weight immediately after birth, weight
increases begin. by the time the baby is four month old, birth weight
is normally doubled. By the end of one year, birth weight should be
trebled. The slowing down of weight gain increases during the final
quarter of the first year and throughout the entire second year, owing to
the greater expenditure of energy in creeping, sitting and walking.
• Wight increses in babyhood come mainly from an increase in fat
tissue .Throughout the first six months of life ,fat nearly doubles in
thickness because of the high fat content of the milk ,which plays such
an important role in the young babys diet.
Increase in height come at a proportionally slower rate than weight increases during
the first year and at a more rapid rate during the second year.
During the first half year of postnatal life ,the changes in body proportion are slight.
From then on ,changes begin to appear ,with head growth slower than trunk and
limb growth.
The rate of increase of head circumference declines sharply during the first six
months.
As the head growth slows down ,the marked top-heaviness characteristically
present at birth gradually decreases as the trunk and legs lengthen.

The arms and hands increase in length between 60-75% during

babyhood and the legs approximately 40%
There is rapid growth in both hands and feet during babyhood
not only in size but in muscular development.
Bones development follows the same general trend as growth
in size which means that development is more rapid during the
first year of life and is followed by a period of relatively slow
development during the second year.
The number of bones in the body increaes at this time with
bone tissue gradully replacing cartilage or membrane in certain
areas .
By the age of 18 month sthe fontanals or soft spots on the skull are closed in aprox 50% of all babies and at 2 years in aprox all babies
.The first tooth to make its appearance cuts through the gum generally between the ages of six and eight months. By the age of one year, the average baby has four to six teeth, and by the second year,16
teeth.
The growth of nervous system consists primarily of the development of immature cells present at birth rather than of the formation of new cells. It has been estimated that one fourth of the adult bring
weight is attained at birth ,one half by the age of nine months ,and three fourth by the end of the second year.
Sense organs develop rapidly during babyhood and are capable of functioning on a satisfactory level during the early months of life.
Hearing is acute in babies . At two months of age babies exhibit a greater activity to the voice than to such sounds as whistling ,knocking,hand clappingand the noise of the spoon.
Smell and taste , which are well developed at birth,continue to be acute throughout babyhood.As th age increases a baby is highly responsive to all skin stimuli.
• MOTOR DEVELOPMENT DURING
INFANCY
Movements of the body appears as soon as the foetus emerges from
the mothers body.
Mass activity includes general movements of the whole body
Most of the important reflexes of the body, as the
pupillary,lip,tongue ,sucking,flexion,knee jerk, sneezing and other are
present at birth .With practice ,the reflexes becomes stronger .Because
infants suck when awake ,regardless of food deprivation, this helps to
strengthen the sucking reflex .They suck little ,however when asleep.
Generalised responses involve larger portions of the body than the
reflexes. Like the reflexes, they are present at birth and are direct
responses to external or internal stimuli. Some of the most common of
these are visual fixation on light ,spontaneous eye
movements ,shedding of tears ,feeding responses such as
sucking,swallowing,tongue,cheek,and lips movements, sucking of the
fingers ,yawning,hicupping,rhythimic mouth movements, rowing and
wrinkling of the brows, turning and lifting head, turning of the trunk,
 •Trunk ,body jerk,hand and arm movements ,prancing and kicking, leg and foot
movements .All of these are uncoordinated ,undefined ,and aimless.However,they are
important because they are the basis from which skilled movements of a highly coordinated
type will develop as a result of learning.

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT DURING

BABYHOOD
•Control of the eye movements come early in life. Response of the eyes to
a succession of moving objects ,comes within the first twelve hours after
birth, and ocular pursuit movements ,within the third and fourth weeks

•By the age of four to six months ,most babies can hold up their heads when seated on
someone's lap. At this age the baby's head maintains a mid position when the body is
supine ,and he actively, rotates his head, turning it freely from side to side .At five months he
turns his head freely when sitting in a chair.
The two important developments that takes place in the trunk region are the abilities to turn the
body by rolling and by sitting up.
A sixteen week old baby can pull himself to a sitting position at twenty weeks ,he can sit
with erect back when supported ,and at twenty eight weeks ,he will sit momentarily
without support when placed in a sitting position.
Thumb opposition ,or the working the thumb in opposition,to the fingers normally occur
during grasping between the third and fourth month ,and in picking up objects between
eight and tenth months.
The earliest form of locomotion comes in the slight shifting of the body as a result of
vigorous kicking of the legs .This occur by the end of second week of life. Then comes rolling
followed by hitching, or locomotion in a sitting position in which the body is pushed
backward through the combined pushing of the legs and arms.
Crawling reaches its peak between the seventh and ninth months.
As greater body strength develop he baby creep. This generally
occurs between tenth and eleventh months.
Average age for standing alone is one year.
With practice in standing ,the baby acquire enough self confidence
to take a step. Several weeks may be required between standing
alone and walking without support.
At first baby walk in a stiffed leg manner.
By fourteen months two thirds of the babies walk without support
and by the age of eighteen months ,the average baby walks like an
adult.