Physical Needs

[Guest amandah]

Hi all

Can anyone tell me what they would consider as the importance of meeting children's physical needs. I have had conflicting ideas from my collegues.

[Susan]

Hi Amanda & welcome.

 

What exactly is the context of this question? Childrens fine and gross motor skills are important for the development of the academic skills of writing and for enhancement of everyday living etc. Arent they?

[Beau]

Are you talking about rest, hygiene etc here or physical as in fine and gross motor skills as Susan has suggested???

[Guest]

I was thinking on the same lines as Beau here-the physical welfare of the children. Are their physical needs met as in safety, hygiene, caring etc. Is this what you are after Amanda? Or is it their physical development as in fine and gross motor skills?

Welcome to the site by the way. I hope you enjoy it.

Linda

[Susan]

Doesnt this just demonstrate the difference between preschool provision and reception provision in school!?

Of course we have regard to the childrens physical needs too in as much as are they warm, are they fed etc and take appropriate steps if the answers appear to be negative but I am certainly not usually involved as much in their physical needs re their well being as some of you are. However it is absolutely vital that these needs are recognised and addressed if other learning is to take place.

Does that help, Amanda?

[Sue R]

Hi Amanda, welcome aboard.

 

With regard your query, my feelings are pretty much with the others.

 

Sue

[hali]

Same here Amanda.. welcome to the site

[Guest amandah]

Thanks all

it's more to do with can all the nursery children's physical needs ( gross and fine motor skills) be met in outside play - what if the setting doesn't have access to an outside area, then will all their physical needs be met indoors?

We know that children need fresh air and exercise, but what if its not accessible?

[Guest]

Hi Amanda

We, unfortunately, don't have an outside play area (it's situations like this when I need a fairy godmother!! )

We do, however, have reasonably good premises which are separated into three rooms. One of which we use for more boistrous play. So we have bikes and cars and the climbing frame is up permanently. We also plan for at least three activities a week which encourage the children to run and move around. So we have gym, with a trampoline, tunnels, climbing frame with either a slide or a fireman's pole. We do dance and Sticky Kids every week and action songs. These sessions usually last about 20 minutes with a warm up and cool down time. We also have parachute play which can get very hectic at times!!

We do have access to a garden at the front of church which we tend to use mostly in spring and summer if the weather is ok. And we take the children for walks as often as we can.

I would love an outside play area but I feel we do give the children lots of opportunities to develop thier physical skills.

Linda

[Sue R]

Certainly sounds like it to me, Linda!

 

That's good pracrice, with the bonus that it's what the big O like to see, too, people thinking 'outside the box'! So long as you're doing the best you can, don't worry, although keep on developing this area!!

 

Sue

[Beau]

I run a playgroup in a village hall and have no access to an outdoor area either. As Linda says though, there are ways of getting around this, by making sure that the children have access to lots of physical activities inside. Sometimes we have to be quite creative but there's always a way of getting around these things. The most important thing is keeping children active, as so many of them sit around in front of the tele when they get home. 'Fresh air' isn't a problem for us as a couple of the windows don't shut properly and when it's windy there can be quite a draft!!

[hali]

Know the feeling there Beau

[Guest amandah]

Thanks everyone that's a great help, i can go back now and argue with all this added ammunition!

I take my hat off to all those that have no outside area, I realise we are very fortunate.