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DR 3: Children show physical and motor competence
⇣ Indicator: MOT—Children demonstrate an increased proficiency in motor skills
⇣ Measure 40: Movement—
Child refines the ability to move in a coordinated way using large muscles (e.g., arms and legs)
	Descriptors	Examples
9	Participates in extended or integrated physical activities	Creates own dance steps to music. Participates in active play sequences that combine running, jumping, throwing, catching, kicking, etc. Throws a FrisbeeTM.
8	Uses complex movement skills in active play	Gallops. Hops. Pumps swing using legs. Skips. Bounces a ball.
7	Uses movement skills to negotiate obstacles	Climbs stairs with alternating feet without holding rail. Moves under, over, and through obstacles. Climbs vertical ladders on playground. Pedals tricycle or steers a wheelchair.
6	Coordinates complex movements	Runs. Jumps forward. Walks up steps with alternating feet using rail. Throws and catches large ball.
5	Moves in an upright position without support (vertical movement)	Walks forward. Steps sideways without holding on. Steps backward. Walks up to a large ball in order to “kick” it. Uses a walker without help.
4	Moves in an upright position using support (vertical movement)	Holds on to table and sidesteps around it. Takes step forward and sideways while holding on to furniture. Uses table to pull body into standing position. Uses a walker with help.
3	Moves whole body using arms and legs (horizontal movement)	Crawls to other side of room. Creeps toward adult. Scoots or rolls in direction of toys. Gets up on all fours. Uses a scooter board independently.
2	Makes simple movements with parts of body	Turns head and reaches for toy. Waves arms and kicks legs at the same time. Rolls from back to stomach and stomach to back.
1	Reflexes dominate movement	When head is turned to one side, arm on the same side extends. Leg kicking is jerky.

Measure 40 — MOT 1

Movement

Child refines the ability to move in a coordinated way using large muscles (e.g., arms and legs)

Movement refers to motor activity that involves changing position or moving against gravity. Movement is important because it helps children grow physically strong and become active. However, movement involves more than simply getting from place to place. When children demonstrate proficiency in their movement skills, they enhance their interactions with people and objects in their environment. Clearly, movement is important for supporting the development of other skills. For example, a young child uses movements and gestures in early communication.

During the first few months of life, an infant’s movements are dominated by reflexes (involuntary movements in response to a stimulus), such as the grasp reflex, the hand-to-mouth reflex, and the startle (or moro) reflex. After the first few months, the infant moves mainly by kicking, lifting his head, and propping on elbows with his head lifted. These simple movements help infants see and interact with the world from a new perspective. As a result, these movements quickly become intentional, as infants recognize simple cause-and-effect relationships. Later in the first year of life, infants can move into and out of a sitting position. They also learn to move horizontally by crawling and creeping. Horizontal movement provides the infant with additional opportunities to explore his physical and social environments. Later in the first year of life, infants begin to move vertically. Pulling to a standing position using furniture and cruising around furniture are early forms of an infant’s vertical movements.

Toddlers can walk without support. At first, their upright movements are stiff and not well coordinated. They may walk with a wide base of support—their feet spread apart— and also with their arms in high regard (held up and away from the body) in order to maintain their balance. As toddlers gain experience with vertical locomotion, their walking becomes smoother and more coordinated. Movement around objects becomes easier, and they do not fall as frequently. However, uneven walking surfaces can be challenging to toddlers. Toddlers often carry objects while walking. Older toddlers are beginning to coordinate movements well enough to be able to run, to jump, and to throw and catch a ball, although they may be somewhat awkward at all of these skills. Older toddlers begin to climb stairs with one foot on each step, but may need to hold on to a support, such as a railing or a wall.

Young preschoolers can coordinate their movements into smooth patterns. They can climb steps with one foot on each step and do not need to hold onto a support. They improve in their ability to throw and catch a ball with precision, as well as in their ability to pedal and steer a tricycle. Young preschoolers use their improved movement skills to negotiate obstacles, climbing over and under things on the playground, for example, and steering around obstacles.

Older preschoolers are capable of complex movement patterns that require the coordination of new, more sophisticated movements, such as galloping, skipping, and swinging on a swing. Later in the preschool years, young children participate in extended or integrated physical activities in games that combine multiple and varied movement skills, such as throwing while running or jumping, or performing dance steps.

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