Hey Reader!

Young children learn best by moving and grooving! Early childhood educators recognize this quickly. When we try to make them sit still…well, it’s usually frustrating for us AND for them. Children’s physical development generally progresses from head to toe and from the center of the body outward. Think about it:

• Babies learn how to hold up their heads well before they can sit up and walk.

• They learn to walk well before they can hold a pencil properly.

To support these developing skills and muscles, here are a few ideas for developmentally appropriate activities to help you get started:

Infants

1. Tummy-Time Treasure Hunt

Place colorful objects just beyond baby's reach during tummy time. Encourage reaching, stretching, pivoting, and eventually scooting toward the objects.

Supports: core strength, reaching, coordination, and early mobility.

2. Grasp & Explore

Offer safe objects with different sizes, textures, and shapes for babies to grasp, hold, transfer from hand to hand, and explore.

Supports: grasp development, hand-eye coordination, and sensory exploration.

Toddlers

1. Follow the Path

Create a simple path using floor tape, pillows, or stepping spots. Invite children to walk, step over, and move around the obstacles.

Supports: balance, coordination, spatial awareness, and gross-motor development.

2. Scoop, Dump & Fill

Provide cups, containers, large scoops, and safe objects such as large pom-poms or blocks. Let toddlers practice scooping, transferring, dumping, and filling.

Supports: hand strength, grasp and release, coordination, and early tool use.

Twos

1. Animal Movement Game

Hop like a frog, stomp like an elephant, waddle like a duck, or crawl like a bear.

Supports: balance, coordination, strength, and body awareness.

2. Playdough & Tongs

Give children playdough to squeeze, roll, pinch, and flatten. Add child-sized tongs or tweezers for picking up objects.

Supports: hand strength, finger isolation, grasp development, and coordination.

Threes

1. Obstacle Course

Create a course with opportunities to crawl, climb, jump, balance, and toss.

Supports: motor planning, balance, coordination, strength, and agility.

2. Snip, String & Stick

Offer child-safe scissors, large beads and laces, stickers, and glue for simple projects. Let children practice cutting across paper, stringing beads, and placing small objects with purpose.

Supports: bilateral coordination, finger strength, precision, and hand-eye coordination.

Fours

1. Jump, Hop & Balance Stations

Set up stations for jumping, hopping, balancing, and moving between designated spots.

Supports: balance, coordination, strength, agility, and motor planning.

2. Build & Create

Provide smaller blocks, connecting manipulatives, puzzles, pegboards, beads, and drawing materials. Challenge children to build a structure, copy a simple pattern, or create a picture with specific details.

Supports: precision, visual-motor integration, finger strength, and problem-solving.

Fives

1. Movement Challenges

Try challenges such as hopping on one foot, walking backward along a line, jumping over several spots, or completing a simple movement sequence.

Supports: balance, agility, coordination, and body control.

2. Fine-Motor Work Stations

Give children opportunities to use scissors to cut shapes, write and draw, manipulate small construction materials, complete detailed puzzles, weave or lace, use tweezers, and practice buttons, zippers, and other fasteners.

Supports: hand strength, dexterity, precision, bilateral coordination, and the fine-motor control needed for school tasks.

A simple progression to keep in mind as you’re planning activities:

Infants: Reach → Grasp → Transfer

Toddlers: Scoop → Dump → Manipulate

Twos: Pinch → Squeeze → Use Simple Tools

Threes: Cut → String → Create

Fours: Build → Pattern → Refine

Fives: Control → Coordinate → Perform with Precision

Knowing What to Look For Matters

As you observe children moving and playing, remember that every child develops at their own pace. Sometimes a child simply needs more time and practice. Other times, you may notice that something has changed or doesn't seem quite right.

Knowing what typical development looks like gives us a better ability to notice those changes. Our job isn't to diagnose—it’s to observe, support, document, and speak up when we have concerns.

In this week's podcast episode, we share the story of a young boy whose early educators noticed something important: he was losing physical skills he had previously developed. Because they knew his typical abilities and paid attention to the changes they were seeing, they were able to bring their concerns to his family. That conversation helped set the family on a path toward an earlier diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and, ultimately, better access to care and treatment.

You may never be the person who makes a diagnosis, but you might be the person who notices something that changes a child's life.

That is one more reason why understanding child development matters so much.

Listen to this podcast episode with host Monica Healer now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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