1. Physical Development in Early Childhood
Children 9
Physical Development in Early Childhood
John W. Santrock

2. Physical Development in Early Childhood
How Does a Young Child’s Body Grow and Change?
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
What Are Some Important Aspects of Young Children’s Health?

3. How Does a Young Child’s Body Grow and Change?
Height and Weight
Average child grows 2½ inches and gains between 5 and 7 pounds a year during early childhood
Growth patterns affected by genetics, growth hormones, environmental factors
Boys gain muscle, girls gain fatty tissue
Growth Hormone Deficiency

4. The Brain Brain and head: fastest growth in body Neuronal Changes
How Does a Young Child’s Body Grow and Change?
The Brain
Brain and head: fastest growth in body
75% of adult size by age 3
90% of adult size by age 5
Neuronal Changes
Myelination: nerve cells insulated
3–6 age period: dopamine increase

5. Structural Changes in the Brain
How Does a Young Child’s Body Grow and Change?
Structural Changes in the Brain
Brain undergoes dramatic anatomical changes between ages of 3 and 15
Some areas almost double in size, purge of unneeded cells follows (up to age 4)
Frontal lobe growth (3–6 years of age)
Temporal and parietal lobes (6–puberty)

6. The Brain and Cognitive Development
How Does a Young Child’s Body Grow and Change?
The Brain and Cognitive Development
Neural networks: visual input is coded; output is language
Prefrontal cortex
Dopamine: key to information transmission in prefrontal cortex and neural circuit
Important in self-control and other skills
Preschool: depth perception is maturing

7. The Prefrontal Cortex Prefrontal Cortex
How Does a Young Child’s Body Grow and Change?
The Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal Cortex

8. Vision Regular vision screening before age 3 Visual problems
How Does a Young Child’s Body Grow and Change?
Vision
Regular vision screening before age 3
Visual problems
Unusual appearance of eyes
Treatment before age 6 prevents vision loss
Functional amblyopia: imbalance, “lazy eye”
Strabismus: misalignment of eyes

9. Gross and Fine Motor Skills
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Gross and Fine Motor Skills
Preschooler: highest activity level of any age in the life span
Need daily exercise; good programs with creativity and free movement
Exercise increases physical and visual awareness

10. How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Gross Motor Skills
Age 3: Enjoys simple movements such as hopping, jumping, and running
Age 4: Becomes more adventurous and climbs
Age 5: Runs hard, is adventurous, tries hair-raising stunts in climbing

11. How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Fine Motor Skills
Age 3: Still emerging from infant ability to place and handle things
Age 4: Coordination improved and more precise
Age 5: Hand, arm, and body move together under better eye command

12. Listed in approximate order of difficulty in each period
Development of Fine Motor Skills in Early Childhood
Listed in approximate order of difficulty in each period
37 to 48 mos
49 to 60 mos
61 to 72 mos
Approximates a
circle in drawing
Cuts paper
Pastes using pointer
finger
Builds 3-block bridge
Builds 8-block tower
Draws 0 and +
Dresses and
undresses doll
Pours from pitcher
without spilling
Strings and laces
shoelace
Cuts following a line
Strings 10 beads
Copies figure X
Opens and places
clothespins (one-
handed)
Builds a 5-block
bridge
Pours from various
containers
Prints first name
Folds paper in halves
and quarters
Traces around hand
Draws rectangle, circle,
square, triangle
Cuts interior piece from
paper
Uses crayons
appropriately
Makes clay object with
2 small parts
Reproduces letters
Copies 2 short words

13. Assessing Motor Skills
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Assessing Motor Skills
Denver Developmental Screening Test
Used to diagnose developmental delay in children from birth to 6 years of age
Simple, inexpensive, fast
Includes gross and fine motor skills, language, and personal-social ability

14. Young Children’s Artistic Drawings
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Young Children’s Artistic Drawings
Emphasize flatness of drawing, painting
Unintended irregularities suggest spontaneity, freedom, and directness
Art provides hands-on approach to problem-solving skills; reinforces ideas of scale, space, motion, distance

15. Stages of Young Children’s Artistic Development
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Stages of Young Children’s Artistic Development
Stage
Age
Progress
Placement Stage
2–3
Placement patterns
Shape Stage 3
Diagrams of 6 different shapes
Design Stage
3–4
Mix 2 basic shapes into more complex design
Pictorial Stage
4–5
Objects that adults recognize

16. Child Art in Context Child art Reflects inventive problem solving
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Child Art in Context
Child art
Reflects inventive problem solving
Developmental changes depend on talent, motivation, familial support, cultural values
Flourishes in sociocultural contexts where tools are available, activity is valued

17. Origin and Development of Handedness
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Origin and Development of Handedness
Genetic inheritance
Right-handedness dominant in all cultures
Hand preference may occur in womb
Many preschoolers use both hands; preference develops later

18. Handedness, the Brain, and Language
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Handedness, the Brain, and Language
Approximately 95% of right-handed individuals process speech primarily in left hemisphere
Left-handed individuals
Show more variation in processing
More likely to have reading problems

19. Handedness and Other Abilities
How Do Young Children’s Motor Skills Develop?
Handedness and Other Abilities
Left-handers more common among
Mathematicians
Musicians
Architects
Artists
20% of top-scoring SAT group were left handed

20. Nutrition Energy/calorie needs increase with age
What Are Some Important Aspects of Young Children’s Health?
Nutrition
Energy/calorie needs increase with age
Basal metabolism rate (BMR): minimum amount of energy used in resting state
Diets should be well-balanced
Avoid excessive fast food, fat, and sugar

21. Obesity in Young Children
What Are Some Important Aspects of Young Children’s Health?
Obesity in Young Children
Percentage of obese children increasing
Encourage child to make independent and better choices
Childhood obesity affects health problems
Center life around activities, not meals
Obesity linked to self-esteem

22. Preventing Childhood Injuries
What Are Some Important Aspects of Young Children’s Health?
Preventing Childhood Injuries
Accidents are leading cause of death in children ages 1 through 4
Many injuries can be prevented
Always use car seats
Lock up guns
Childproof home and playground
Better construction of playground equipment

23. Main Causes of Death in Children 1 Through 4 Years of Age
Influenza and pneumonia
Diseases of the heart
Assault (homicides)
12.5
0.8
1.2
2.5
2.8
3.6
Malignant neoplasms
Congenial malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities
Accidents (unintentional injuries) Motor vehicle Other accidents
Deaths per 100,000 children
Main Causes of Death in Children Through 4 Years of Age
Fig. 9.9