Physical Development Milestones
Girl 1 seems to have achieved some of the age-appropriate physical developmental milestones. She is yet to achieve some of the balance milestones. Girl 1 was able to walk for over 10 feet without falling. Standing on one foot for five seconds proved difficult for Girl 1. Girl 1 was not able to walk while balancing a book on her head. With regard to locomotion, she walks up or down the stairs one at a time. She wobbled while waking backward meaning she is yet to achieve fully locomotion milestones. Further, she was unable to cut paper in a straight line, draw a person, button a button, or even tie her shoes. A possible wellness activity to improve her balance might involve proper diet and more play or games. Proper diet and outdoor activities may hasten the achievement of various physical developmental milestones such as balancing and locomotion (Meggitt, 2007).
Girl 2 has achieved most of the developmental milestones for her age. With regard to balance, she has achieved most of the milestones. Nevertheless, she was unable walk while balancing a book on her head. Girl 2 has achieved all her locomotion milestones. However, she is yet to achieve all her fine motor skills. She was unable to cut a paper in a straight line, draw a person, button a button, or tie her shoes. A possible wellness activity for Girl 2 is learning through fun activities (Isbell, 2010). It is possible to teach Girl 2 how to button her blouse, tie her show, draw a person, and even cut a paper in straight line. Encouraging her and helping her to button her button will ultimately see her learn how to do it. Parents should encourage her to perform each activities in a playful way.
Boy 1 is yet to achieve some of the balance milestones. She was not able to balance on one foot for 5 seconds. He also had difficulties maintaining balance while standing on one foot and clapping hands. Lastly, he was unable to walk while balancing a book on the head. With regard to locomotion, boy 1 walks up or down the stairs one at a time. Boy 1 was unable to walk backward for 10 feet. Boy 1 has not achieved some fine motor skills. Boy 1 made an effort in drawing a person. He reaches out with his right hand, which is an indication of improvement in fine motor skills. He was unable to cut paper in a straight line, button his shirt, and tie his shoes. An appropriate wellness activity for Boy 1 would be teaching him how to grasp. Boy 1 should play with toys that have knobs, dials, and switches. This is critical in helping him develop grasp. With a proper grasp, Boy 1 can improve his fine motor skills such as drawing. It is important to encourage Boy 1 in the activities he engages, for instance, trying to tie his shoes. This should be done regardless of whether he ties shoes in the wrong way.
Boy 2 has achieved most of the balance skills for his age. With regard to balance, Boy 2 has achieved most of the milestones. However, he was unable to walk while balancing a book on the head. Boy 2 has achieved most of the locomotion milestones. Boy can walk up or down the stairs using alternate feet. He rolls on his right-hand side. Boy 2 has achieved most of the fine motor skills except tying his shoes. An appropriate wellness activity for Boy 2 is threading big beads. This would enable him to improve dexterity and thus learn how to tie his own shoe (Meggitt, 2007).
References
Isbell, C. (2010). Everyday play: Fun games to develop the fine motor skills your child needs for school. Silver Spring, MD: Gryphon House.
Meggitt, C. (2007). Child development: An illustrated guide; [birth to 16 years]. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers.
ECH-235 Physical Ability Assessment
Girl 1 – Age:___4__ | Girl 2 – Age: __4.5___ | |
Balance | ||
Walk 10 feet. |
Girl 1 successfully walked for 10 feet without any problem. |
Girl 2 was able to complete the 10-feet walk. |
Hop on both feet (note how high the child hops). |
Girl 1 can hop on both feet for about 2 inches. |
Girl 2 can hop on both feet for about 3 inches. |
Stand on one foot for 5 seconds. |
Girl 1 was unable to stand on one foot for 5 seconds.
|
Girl 2 was able to stand on one foot for 5 seconds, although she appeared unsteady during the entire duration. |
Stand on one foot and clap hands. |
Girl 1 could stand on one foot and clap hands for a few seconds, approximately 2 seconds.
|
Girl 2 could stand on one foot and clap hands for about 4 seconds. |
Walk while balancing a book on the head. |
Girl 1 was unable to walk while balancing a book on her head. |
Girl 2 was also unable to walk while balancing a book on the head. |
Girl 1 – Age:_____ | Girl 2 – Age: _____ | |
Locomotion | ||
Walk up stairs. (Does the child go up one stair at a time or use alternate feet?) | Girl 1 walks up the stairs one stair at a time using the handrail for support. | Girl 2 uses alternate feet to go up the stairs, uses handrail for support. |
Walk down stairs. (Does the child go down one stair at a time or use alternate feet?) | Girl 1 goes down one stair at a time while holding on to the railings. | Girl 2 uses walks down stairs using alternate feet and uses railings for support. |
Walk a straight line. (Put masking tape on the floor and have the child walk on the tape.) | Girl 1 was able to walk a straight line with ease. | Girl 2 was able to walk a straight line with ease too. |
Walk backward for 10 feet. | Girl 1 was able to walk backward for 10 feet though she wobbled in a number of steps. | Girl 2 was able to walk backward for 10 feet. |
Lie on the floor and roll like a log (note the direction). | Girl 1 was able to lie on the floor and roll like a log towards her right. | Girl 2 was able to lie on the floor and roll like a log towards her right. |
Girl 1 – Age:_____ | Girl 2 – Age: _____ | |
Fine Motor | ||
Observe the child’s hand preference. (Hand the child objects and observe which hand reaches out.) | Girl 1 uses the right hand to reach out to objects. | Girl 2 uses the right hand to reach out to objects. |
Cut paper in a straight line. (You might model this, but do not draw a line on the paper.) | Girl 1 was unable to cut paper in a straight line. | Girl 2 was also unable to cut paper in a straight line. |
Draw a person. | Girl 1 made wavy lines in her attempt to draw a person. | Girl 2 scribbled on her paper. |
Button a button. | Girl 1 was unable to button her blouse. | Girl 2 was able to button two buttons on her blouse. |
Tie a shoe. | Girl 1 could not tie her shoe. She was adamant to try. | Girl 2 tried to tie her shoe but she was unable. |
Boy 1 – Age:__4.4___ | Boy 2 – Age: _4.8____ | |
Balance | ||
Walk 10 feet. |
Boy 1 was able to walk 10 feet without any problem.
|
Boy 2 was able to walk 10 feet without any difficulties. |
Hop on both feet (note how high the child hops). |
Boy 1 could hop on both feet for about 3 inches.
|
Boy 2 could hop on both feet for about 4 inches. |
Stand on one foot for 5 seconds. |
Boy 1 could not stand on one foot for 5 seconds. Boy 1 lost balance after about 3 seconds.
|
Boy 2 was able to stand on one foot for more than 5 seconds. |
Stand on one foot and clap hands. | Boy 1 had difficulties maintaining balance while standing on one foot and clapping hands. | Boy 2 was able to stand on one foot and clap hands. |
Walk while balancing a book on the head. |
Boy 1 was unable to balance a book on his head and walk at the same time.
|
Boy 2 could not walk and balance a book on the head. |
Boy 1 – Age:_____ | Boy 2 – Age: _____ | |
Locomotion | ||
Walk up stairs. (Does the child go up one stair at a time or use alternate feet?) | Boy 1 can walks up the stairs one stair at a time and using the handrail for support. | Boy 2 could walk using alternate feet. |
Walk down stairs. (Does the child go down one stair at a time or use alternate feet?) | Boy 1 goes down one stair at a time with his hand on the handrail for support. | Boy 2 can go down the stairs using alternate feet. Boy 2 can go down without using the handrail albeit slowly. |
Walk a straight line. (Put masking tape on the floor and have the child walk on the tape.) | Boy 1 was able to walk a straight line along the masking tape. | Boy 2 was also able to walk a straight line. |
Walk backward for 10 feet. | Boy was unable to walk backward for 10 feet. He made a step and lost his balance. | Boy 2 was able to walk backward for 10 feet |
Lie on the floor and roll like a log (note the direction). | Boy 1 could lie on the floor and roll like a log on his left-hand side. | Boy 1 could lie on the floor and roll but on the right-hand side. |
Boy 1 – Age:_____ | Boy 2 – Age: _____ | |
Fine Motor | ||
Observe the child’s hand preference. (Hand the child objects and observe which hand reaches out.) | Boy 1 reaches out with his right hand. | Boy 2 reaches out to objects using his right hand. |
Cut paper in a straight line. (You might model this but do not draw a line on the paper.) | Boy 1 was not able to cut paper in a straight line. | Boy 2 was able to cut paper in an almost straight line. |
Draw a person. | Boy 1 was able to draw a figure resembling a person –a head with arms and legs coming out, no body. | Boy 2 was able to draw a person – head, body, and limbs in their proper position. |
Button a button. | Boy 1 had difficulties in buttoning his shirt. | Boy 2 was able to button his shirt albeit he took time. |
Tie a shoe. | Boy 1 was unable to tie his shoe. | Boy 2 could not tie his shoe although he took great effort in trying to do it. |
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