• Evidence shows that educators can implement approaches that benefit young children’s physical development. The EEF’s Early Years Toolkit finds that physical development approaches may also benefit children’s cognitiveRelated to the mental process involved in knowing, understanding, and learning. development.
• Focusing on a specific physical development skill can help children improve competency in that skill.
• Physical development approaches may be more effective when educators thoughtfully vary the difficulty of tasks, provide feedback to children, combine instruction with active play, provide a range of resources and environments, including outdoors, for physical activities, and draw on theories of learning to design activities.
• Physical development approaches may be more effective if sessions are delivered regularly, for example, three or more times a week, and over a period of several months rather than for shorter durations.
• Little evidence explores whether physical development approaches are more or less effective for children from lower-income families or children otherwise identified as at-risk. Therefore, educators should use their professional judgement and monitor the impact of the approaches when used.

Physical development in the early years refers to the growth of the body and brain from birth through early childhood. This includes changes in body size, muscle strength, balance, co-ordination, sensory development, and skills such as movement and handling. Physical development is a foundational area that enables children to engage with the world around them and lays the building blocks for later physical capabilities and health.

The physical development skills of movement and handling are often divided into different groups, for example, gross motor skillsSkills developed using whole body., fine motor skillsFine motor skills involve small muscles working with the brain and nervous system to control movements in areas such as the hands, fingers, lips, tongue and eyes., and stabilityFor example, balancing, turning, or twisting.. Gross motor skillsSkills developed using whole body. involve the use of the whole body and include movements like crawling, walking, and running. Fine motor skillsFine motor skills involve small muscles working with the brain and nervous system to control movements in areas such as the hands, fingers, lips, tongue and eyes. involve the control of small muscles in activities like pinching, grasping, and handling. The development of motor skills is also needed for mark-making and letter formation. StabilityFor example, balancing, turning, or twisting. is the ability to control and coordinate movement using core strength, for example, sitting and balancing. Physical development also encompasses sensory development, which includes taste, smell, vision, hearing, touch, and spatial and positional awareness. Safety awareness is also developed whereby a child makes appropriate decisions based on risk and their own physical capability.

Physical development supports, and is supported by, other areas of a child’s development. For example, movements that involve coordinating both sides of the body (such as crawling or skipping) aid brain connectivity, which supports speech, communication, and literacy skills. Both movement and handling objects support spatial reasoning skills as well as provide opportunities to develop thinking and problem-solving skills. Fine motorFine motor skills involve small muscles working with the brain and nervous system to control movements in areas such as the hands, fingers, lips, tongue and eyes. development encompasses hand muscle strength, wrist movement, and pincer control: skills which facilitate independence in daily tasks such as eating, dressing, and mark-making.

Children’s physical development is typically rapid in the early years and is influenced by the adults and peers around them. This theme looks at what adults can do to support physical development as part of young children’s education. Educators need to consider the stage and age of the children when deciding how to apply the approaches below due to the speed of physical development within this age range.

Physical development is related to other aspects of child development and therefore to other themes in the Early Years Evidence Store, some of which are published and other sections that are forthcoming. For example, physical development and self-care are closely linked. Children’s knowledge and understanding of how to stay fit, the importance of a healthy diet, and how to manage their own hygiene will be covered under the forthcoming ​‘Promoting Self-Care’ approach in the Personal Social and Emotional Development theme.

There is also a link between physical development and literacy in the area of handwriting. Both involve mark-making and motor skills. In the Evidence Store, the Physical Development theme focuses mainly on evidence and practices to improve the physical skills needed for mark-making and letter formation while the Literacy theme looks at mark-making evidence and practices to improve literacy outcomes more directly.

There is also a relationship between physical development and self-regulation and executive function. For example, there is evidence that persistence and attention are associated with physical development. Approaches to teaching self-regulation and executive function are set out in the Self-Regulation and Executive Function theme. Do consider exploring the approaches there.

Approaches that educators can use to support the physical development of children include:

1. Promoting physical activity: educators can encourage and provide opportunities, including play, for children to regularly engage in physical activity, both indoors and outdoors.
2. Teaching the skills needed for movement and handling: educators can aim to improve physical development by explicitly teaching and consolidating movement and handling skills.
3. Teaching the skills needed for mark-making and letter formation: educators can support the development of the skills and mechanics required to actively engage in mark-making opportunities.

Each approach has two sections. The first is called ​‘What Does the Evidence Say?’ where we share key messages about the approach from the research. The second is called ​‘Approach in Action’: here we provide practical examples of how the approach could be implemented in settings — examples that draw on the experience and expertise of educators.

Most of the studies underpinning the evidence for the Physical Development theme involved research with children across the full age range of the Evidence Store; children from birth to six were involved in the activities, however, there is relatively more evidence relating to older children in that age-range.

Some of the reviews looked at evidence for children outside of the age range and included studies with children aged seven and over. However, when reviewing evidence of this type, we have only drawn conclusions from studies focused on children younger than six.

This section summarises the findings of theme-level evidence that sits across all three physical development approaches. The evidence covers a range of activities targeting a variety of movement skills including those that aim to develop gross motor skillsSkills developed using whole body., fine motor skillsFine motor skills involve small muscles working with the brain and nervous system to control movements in areas such as the hands, fingers, lips, tongue and eyes., and stabilityFor example, balancing, turning, or twisting..

Physical development approaches have a positive impact on movement skills, including locomotor skillsFor example, running, hopping and jumping. and object control skillsFor example, throwing, catching or kicking.. However, there is less evidence on whether those improvements persist over time. There is also evidence that physical development approaches can increase the amount of children’s physical activity. A small amount of research also indicates that physical development approaches can have an impact on cognitiveRelated to the mental process involved in knowing, understanding, and learning. development outcomes such as executive function or concentration.

We identified four separate factors that may promote the effectiveness of physical development approaches:

• the participation of parents in physical development activities — for example, by getting parents to practise skills learnt in early years settings with children at home;
• the combination of physical activities with active play;
• the delivery of sessions three or more times a week and over a period of several months rather than for shorter durations; and
• using activities that are based on theory — that is, that draw on an understanding of how activities are expected to lead to changes in physical development — for example, an activity may be designed to ensure that certain movements are repeatedly practised in different contexts to build a child’s competence in those movements.

There are some things we do not yet have answers to. There is a need for more high quality research and more studies that investigate the effect of physical development on cognitionRelated to the mental process involved in knowing, understanding, and learning., later attainmentThe academic standard that pupils reach in, for example, assessments and exams., and mental health and wellbeing. There is also a need for research to assess longer-term as well as shorter-term changes in outcomes. Other gaps include a need for more research including younger children (such as those under three) and more studies that explore whether physical development approaches are more or less effective for boys than girls or for children from lower-income families or children otherwise identified as at-risk.

This is a brief summary of the evidence. You can download a more detailed evidence summary with references to the studies it is based on here.