Physical Development is one of the Prime Areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Without a solid foundation of good gross and fine motor control and a variety of experiences moving in different ways, children will struggle with many areas of learning, including pre-writing skills.
Developing practice which makes connections between learning areas is key to implementing your curriculum within the EYFS. Understanding how physical development supports writing can guide observations and provide insights into how each individual child can be helped to progress.
A full and rich programme of Physical Development available to every child should focus on both gross and fine motor skills, incorporating real materials and open-ended activities. In this way, practitioners will be able to successfully provide children with a solid foundation on which to learn and develop writing:
‘By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional wellbeing. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination which is later linked to early literacy.’ EYFS 2021, Physical Development, Educational Programme.
DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE
Children do not become successful readers and writers by rote learning or by a formal instructional style of learning. All too often, we expect our children to behave in a certain way when they are not developmentally ready. For example, it is a common expectation that children starting school should be able to sit still on the carpet with their legs crossed and their hands in their laps. However, for some children this might be impossible. By the age of four, many boys haven’t fully developed the groin muscles needed to be able to sit cross-legged on the floor (Bottrill 2018).
This uniform way of conforming not only gives the illusion of listening and learning; it can be developmentally inappropriate for some children and impossible to achieve for some of our young learners. Children who struggle to sit still on the carpet, who fidget and can’t hold themselves up right may not be physically ready to do so. They may lack the necessary core muscle strength needed to hold themselves upright for an extended period of time. Expecting children to behave in a certain way and adhere to certain ‘classroom rules’ can actually be setting them up for failure.
It is our job as early years practitioners to meet the children where they are currently at and help to develop the whole child to ensure they can grow, develop and learn to the best of their ability.
Children need exposure to activities that promote the development of their muscles in all areas of their body. In order to hold a pen correctly and use it to form letters effectively, they need to be able to isolate the muscles in their shoulders, elbows and their wrists and fingers. To do this, they need a strong core and need to be able to make connections through all the pivots in their body, including those needed to write, as well as hip, knees and ankle pivots. Therefore, it is vital that practitioners allow children to participate in a range of activities that not only work their fingers, wrists and arms but also their whole body.
At the British International School of Boston, we provide the children in our early years classrooms with a wide range of opportunities to help them build their muscles, both using gross and fine motor movements. We find the best place to do this is outside. When children are outside they are free to move around at a faster pace and there are many more opportunities to develop their gross and fine motor skills that they might find inside.
ROLLING DOWN HILLS
The children in our early years classes enjoy spending time rolling down some of the larger hills on our campus. Not only is this great fun, and a good challenge for our younger children to climb to the top, but the process of spinning and getting dizzy is a great pre-reading skill. Spinning helps to build children’s eye convergence, eye tracking and eye strength (White 2014).
To be able to read words, children need to be able to track the words across a page. Encouraging children to focus on different objects when they spin helps to build eye muscles. Throwing feathers, balloons or lightweight scarves into the air are also great activities that can help promote healthy eye convergence.
Providing children to walk up different inclines is a great way to help make their legs stronger, build up their core strength and develop their sense of balance and place in the world. Research has shown that children with a strong core and well-developed balance develop better writing skills than those with poor muscle control (Cowley 2012).
CLIMBING TREES AND ROCKS
We don’t shy away from allowing children to climb trees or structures. While it can be alarming for an adult to watch a child independently climb really high, the physical and developmental benefits far outweigh an adult’s worry! When children climb, they are engaging the muscles in their core, arms and shoulders.
Climbing provides a fun way to develop shoulder pivots. These muscles enable children to effectively grasp a pencil and to use it with good control. Climbing trees allows children to develop their dexterity, grip and grasp, all of which will contribute to good pen grip. Developing these co-ordinated movements will hugely benefit children when they learn how to hold a pencil and begin writing.
The children in our setting love to hang from branches. While this might not sound like a pre-writing skill, it is! In the process of hanging, children are extending not only their shoulder and arm muscles, they are also working their wrists and fingers. When these muscles are strong, the children will find sitting at a table with a pencil in their hand much more comfortable and natural.
Recently we introduced some rock-climbing equipment to some of the trees in our Forest School area. The younger children especially have enjoyed being able to climb up trees they previously couldn’t due to their height.
Children don’t always need to climb to develop their shoulder and arm muscles. Any opportunity to reach up high will work. Encouraging children to lift heavy sticks or branches over their head, or to reach up high to get something, will also help to isolate shoulder muscles. Another activity the children in our setting enjoy is playing ‘splat the sound’. Phonics cards are stuck on a wall high above the child’s reach. The children are challenged to jump up and slap the sound they recognise. Not only does this help consolidate any phonics learning but reaching up high gets their shoulder pivots working. Jumping while looking up is also a great way to help children develop their sense of balance and proprioception (sense of where they are in relation to the world). Having a good sense of proprioception is vital if children are to put the correct amount of pressure on their pencil.
Any movements that encourage children to stretch their arms above their head is a pre-writing skill as it is helping to develop the relevant muscles for later writing. Climbing up trees and over rocks is a wonderful way to get children to develop their hand-eye co-ordination, which is a necessary skill when learning to write.
DRAWING ON VERTICAL SURFACES AND WITH DIFFERENT MATERIALS
Children need to be given a variety of mark-making tools as well as a variety if surfaces in which to draw and write on. Children don’t necessarily need to be sat at a table.
By providing children with vertical surfaces, we can help encourage them to develop strength and flexibility. It promotes healthy wrist extension, increases shoulder and elbow stability, as well as core strength and posture.
Children in our setting enjoyed our art studio we created for them during our topic on colours. Large sheets of paper were hung on the wall and the children were encouraged to explore a range of different painting materials. Not only were the children excited at the prospect of ‘painting on the walls’, they challenged each other to see who could paint the highest. We also allow our children to paint outside, with a popular activity being painting tree branches and our play house.
Our children also enjoy the challenge of painting with mops! Mops with paint on are heavy and a great way to isolate and work shoulder and elbow muscles, especially if children are encouraged to paint in places that are in hard-to-reach (high up) places.
Of course, as with any physical activity, there are associated risks and we would never encourage our children to engage in play that we know is way above their developmental level. However, we do encourage our children to challenge their selves and we do not shy away from risky play.
CROSSING THE MIDLINE
We also need to ensure we are providing children opportunities to engage in activities that cross the midline (using both sides of the body together). These can include running, digging, jumping and climbing. Crossing the midline helps the brain to build neurological pathways and is an important prerequisite skill for developing cognitive skills.
GROSS MOTOR SKILLS ARE IMPORTANT FOR WRITING
When planning physical activities for young children, it is important to remember that gross motor is just as important as fine motor. When children enter Reception, there is a tendency to focus solely on fine motor control and pen grip. However, it isn’t just good finger strength that helps turn children into effective mark-makers. We also need to build time into developing the lower half of the body. Children need a solid foundation of core, trunk and leg strength, as well as good hip and knee pivots.
Developing gross motor skills needs to be a top priority among early years practitioners. Fine and gross motor skills combine to create good pen grip and control. No child should be expected to write before they are physically developmentally ready. What we do in the early years can make a significant difference to children’s later lives. Physical Development is a Prime Area for a reason. It is the bedrock of all learning. If we don’t provide children with the opportunities they need to develop the muscles in their bodies, we are setting them up for failure in later life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Martin is a Reception teacher and Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Coordinator, British International School of Boston. The school is a member of Nord Anglia Education, a family of education schools in 16 countries. It takes children and young people from 18 months to 18 years. Students benefit from a global learning experience, including enriched curricula through its collaboration with The Juilliard School, MIT and UNICEF.
RECOMMENDED READING
- Cowley S (2012) The Road to Writing
- McClure A (2008) Making it Better for Boys
- White J (2014) Every Child a Mover
- Bottrill G (2018) Can I go and Play Now?