let’s get physical « Fisher-Price Experts

Children don't have to participate in organised sports or exercise programs as soon as they are born. In fact, sometimes, we rush young babies and toddlers into classes way too quickly. Babies and toddlers can gain practice at physical skills through ordinary life experiences. There are so many daily activities that encourage baby's coordination, spatial awareness, motor skills and muscle strength.

Babies are born with a number of reflexes like grasping and turning their heads, which are designed to help protect them in their environment before they can actually make decisions with their own mind.

US research into early brain development shows that baby's inherent birth reflexes are programmed to diminish as they grow older. So they need practice at developing their own physical skills and learned behaviours in spatial awareness, muscle tone and hand-eye coordination.

Based on this research, Kathy says babies and toddlers require lots of opportunities to practice moving, grasping, reaching, pulling, sucking, rolling over, pulling themselves up, crawling, standing and walking in order to progress their own physical development.

“The skills of crawling provide lots of practice at what is known as bilateral coordination, as well as spatial awareness. A simple left /right movement fires up the brain and stimulates thousands of neurons,” Kathy explains.

“Grasping, pulling and holding onto things is early practice for later in life when baby will learn how to hold cutlery, to coordinate their hand/eye movements and to hold and write with a pen.”

Everything that the young baby and toddler is practicing in relation to their physical skills is promoting the stimulation of their thinking, their reasoning and their understanding; as well as the concrete skills of walking, coordination and building muscle tone.

The early years of physical development set patterns and coordination that help throughout a child’s life.

Allowing baby to play freely, so long as they are in a safe environment, is important for their physical development. Even babies need to learn to do some things all by themselves.

Use the sidebar on the right to find out how you can encourage your baby’s physical development.

Use these quick tips and activites to help with your baby's develoment.

- 1
  Place a blanket on the floor for your young baby to comfortably lie on - this helps them to roll over without slipping and to gain some strength to lift themselves up.
- 2
  Give children practice at reaching out for some of their toys so they are stretching and reaching. This helps them to learn and experience spatial awareness and perception.
- 3
  Provide time and space for toddlers to go to the park to run and to play games like hide and seek and chasey. Motor control, stretching, grasping, climbing and left/right coordination are all important skills for life.
- 4
  Try to allow toddlers time to practice climbing the rungs of a ladder for the slide by themselves, without you just lifting them onto the top of the slide. This gives them practice at becoming independent, trying out new things and developing motor control and coordination.
- 5
  Help them to walk holding your hands, taking one step at a time.
- 6
  Once baby starts walking, make sure they play outside, and run alongside them to encourage them to follow you.
- 7
  Encourage children to lift objects that are not too heavy. This promotes their balance and upper body strength.
- 8
  Give them practice at see-saws to help them with their balance.
- 9
  Have a swing for the back yard where the children have to practice pushing off and using their legs and body weight.
- 1
  Play music for them and encourage them to dance or move. This develops rhythm, balance, movement skills and coordination as well as being fun.
- 2
  Make small obstacle courses in the backyard with old tyres, cardboard boxes or old rugs over a branch. Encourage them to climb over, under and through. This enhances their coordination and helps them to start to learn concepts such as under, over and across which are all part of early numeracy.
- 3
  Give your baby lots of rattles, bells, hoops and toys to grab, to grasp, to hold and to manipulate with their fingers. This provides auditory stimulation, gives practice for eye tracking and fine motor muscle control.
- 4
  Give them scarves or soft material to use as they move or dance to the music.
- 5
  Give them toys that they can squeeze and remodel using their hands. This strengthens their muscles and improves hand control.
- 6
  There is also a range of toys designed specifically to assist in baby’s development through physical stages such as learning to sit up, learning to crawl, transitioning from crawling to walking and being on the go!

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