Physical Development in Middle Childhood

Written by Group Member #1

Overall, the physical development of children in middle childhood, is nothing like physical

development in early childhood. It is not as noticeable as it was in early childhood or as dramatic as it will be during adolescence. However, the two aspects of physical development, Motor Skills and Nutrition, are still developing and changing for these children.

How to Promote Optimal Physical Development in Middle Childhood

Motor Skills

Looking specifically at the motor skills, both gross and fine, by middle childhood these skills are well developed but become smoother and the children show better coordination compared to early childhood. To support optimal development of motor skills in the physical development domain of middle childhood, while they have this greater control over their bodies mentioned above and can sit for longer periods of time it does not mean they should. Keeping these kids active is what is needed as it allows them to refine and continue to utilize their gross and fine motor skills. Now, it is also important to mention, at different ages, different motor skills become more refined. The chart to the right sums up what motor skills are seen and refined at different ages.

Nutrition

As for the nutrition aspect of physical development, for optimal development, children need to eat more food than they were consuming in early childhood. It is suggested that at ages 4-6 caloric intake should be about 1,700 per day. At the 7-10 year old range, 2,400 calories is suggested. Ensuring these calorie goals are met and/or adapted based on activity levels and child size is one way to ensure optimal development in middle childhood in regards to physical development. Not only this, properly educating children on what foods they should be consuming to meet these calorie goals is another way to support physical development in middle childhood. Learning about the Food Pyramid and what a healthy diet consists of is a great start.

How Well Does S.P.A.R.K.S. Support Physical Development in Middle Childhood?

S.P.A.R.K.S. offers a variety of services. First, they offer in-person, Hands-on STEM Classroom Visitations. The hands-on activities really help students utilize their motor skills, especially fine motor skills. All of these fine motor skills listed in the chart above and more are reinforced with S.P.A.R.K.S services. For example, just by having the students put on lab coats, safety googles, and gloves, motor development skills are being refined. Fastening clothes, a motor skill not mentioned on the chart above, is a skill that comes to fruition around age 6.

Besides this, S.P.A.R.K.S. also offers the Interactive STEM Assembly Program. These interactive STEM assemblies don’t incorporate the motor skills as much as the classroom visitations, but the students are able to get up and participate in the assemblies on occasion. Overall, these services really get kids moving, which, as mentioned above, is what is needed to promote better motor development.

While S.P.A.R.K.S. supports physical development in terms of motor skills, especially the fine motor skills, nutrition is not at the forefront of their mission or services. None of S.P.A.R.K.S. Foundation’s services educate children on healthy eating. By including the importance of healthy eating habits through fun science experiments and hands-on learning, they may be able to help combat childhood obesity.

How S.P.A.R.K.S. Can Improve Their Services to Better Support this Domain

Nutrition is science so incorporating it into their services would not be so big a challenge for them. As mentioned above, educating kids on what foods are best is a great way to support the nutritional aspect of physical development. Since S.P.A.R.K.S is all about hands-on learning, bringing in different fruits and vegetables and doing a taste test, then

describing how food is broken down in the body, or how nutrients reaches different parts of the body during a classroom visitation is one idea to bring the nutrition aspect into S.P.A.R.K.S programs. Those fruits and veggies high in Vitamin C, for example broccoli, help heal wounds among other things. Those high in Potassium, for example bananas, help grow muscle. Through hearing and seeing these results of the potential experiment, the children may be more encouraged to eat them.

Citations

Evers, Connie. “Using Nutrition to Teach Science” Mid Michigan Child Care Food Program. Mid Michigan Child Care Centers, Inc. https://www.midmichigancc.com/nutrition-to-teach-science.

“Fruits & Veggies.” Fruits & Veggies - Have A Plant, Produce for Better Health Foundation, https://fruitsandveggies.org/fruits-and-veggies/.

Santrock, John W. Children. Available from: Yuzu, (15th Edition). McGraw-Hill Higher Education (US), 2021.

Tomonari, Dana, and Rachelle Feiler. "Child Development, Stages of Growth." Encyclopedia of Education, edited by James W. Guthrie, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2003, pp. 276-280. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3403200106/OVIC?u=cclc_merced&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=3a0658a6. Accessed 18 Oct. 2021.