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Child: Leyla, 3 years old, attends Busy Bees childcare centre 3 days a week.

Settings: Childcare centre, outdoor playground, and community park.

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Mid-morning at the childcare centre.
*Breakfast → fine motor skills (holding spoon and cup).

*Creative play → fine motor skills (cutting, sketching, and pasting).
*Storytime - little movements (e.g., turning pages, sitting)
*Outdoor play - gross motor skills (e.g., running, leaping, balancing, climbing).

In the afternoon

*Indoor play to develop gross and fine motor skills, such as constructing blocks, pretend play with dolls, and solving puzzles.
*Music and movement lead to rhythmic movement, such as dancing, clapping, and swaying to the beat.
*Lunch - fine motor skills, holding a fork and cup.

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Movement support and limitation in the environment

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Movement support and limitation in the environment

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Leyla is a three-year-old who attends Busy Bees childcare centre three times a week. During her daily routines, she engages in fine and gross motor activities. The Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years propose that children aged 1 to 5 engage in at least three hours of physical activity, including active play. Leyla’s involvement at the childcare and community park demonstrates both the support and limitations of implementing these guidelines.

When Leyla arrives at the centre, her daily routine begins by having breakfast. During breakfast, Leyla holds the spoon, guiding it towards her mouth and grips the cup to drink her milk; these movements support her fine motor skills.  These exercises strengthen and coordinate tiny muscles, preparing Leyla for reading and self-care activities.

During creative play, Leyla participates in drawing, cutting, and pasting, improving her fine motor skills and precision. These exercises are consistent with standards that encourage diversified physical activity, illustrating that not all movement is huge or vigorous (Australian Government, 2021).

Storytime in the learning environment is often limited in activity, leading to sedentary behavior. To promote focus and literacy development, prolonged inactivity should be avoided. Long sitting periods should be replaced with active play, ensuring a balanced approach to movement within the structured learning environment (Australian Government, 2021). Here, mobility is limited by the learning environment's structure.

During playtime, Leyla engages in activities that take place inside and outside. When participating in indoor play, Leyla plays with building blocks, puzzles, and pretend play with dolls. Outdoor play boosts social engagement, motor skills development, and coordination, while community parks and playgrounds promote physical exercise and overall development. In comparison, indoor free play encourages creativity and coordination.

Leyla's childcare center and community settings offer music and movement workshops for children, integrating movement into social and educational experiences. They focus on gross motor growth and fine motor practice through self-help techniques. They adhere to the Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, offering both gross and fine motor activities in addition to scheduled periods, emphasising the importance of active play and motor skill development in early childhood routines.

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During lunch, Leyla ate with a fork with little assistance; here, her determined movements demonstrate her skill and independence.

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Starting from a young age, children’s primary development is greatly influenced by movement, which impacts how they interact with their peers and the outside environment.

At the Busy Bees childcare centre, Leyla’s experiences demonstrate a way of knowing, being and belonging. It is visibly inherent how routines and surrounding environments promote holistic development in children when linked to the Early Years Learning Framework and International Health Guidelines.

During the observation that took place at Busy Bees childcare centre, it was seen that Leyla uses her fine motor skills to communicate through movement when she sketches, builds blocks, or uses cutlery during breakfast and lunch. The (CECE,2013) video showcases how children can exhibit agency and self-confidence through movements in everyday routines and activities. This closely links to learning outcome 5 “Children are effective communicators” (ACECQA, 2018, p.58). This framework recognises children as active participants in their environment who freely express their thoughts and emotions through various modes of communication, including movement. Through the development of her fine motor abilities, Leyla uses them as an embodied language to communicate with her educators and peers.

Storytime presents a new, frequently sedentary connection with movement while preserving mobility as an identity. Children's physiological interactions with their surroundings help them form a sense of place, according to Wilson (1997). The WHO's caution against prolonged sedentary behaviour in the early years must be weighed against this (WHO,2024).

Children's development greatly benefits from outdoor play, as it encourages cooperation, resilience, and problem-solving skills. The EYLF and CECE emphasise the importance of outdoor play for children's development, promoting cooperation, resilience, and problem-solving skills. The (WHO, 2024) framework recommends at least 180 minutes of diversified physical exercise, including vigorous movement, daily. Outdoor play, like Leyla's, supports developmental and health standards, allowing her to embody rhythm and emotion. The Early Years Learning Framework emphasises movement as essential for belonging, being, and becoming, while the WHO places a high priority on children's right to active, healthy play. To promote health and learning, Leyla’s educators must provide spaces that incorporate a variety of movement styles, giving her regular opportunities to move, express herself, connect with others, and develop.

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The educator held a guided block play; with other children, Leyla showcased her turn-taking, teamwork, and shared problem-solving skills as she skilfully balanced and stacked blocks using movements of her arms and precise finger manipulations.

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After observing and reflecting on Leyla’s everyday routine and movements, it was evident that there were opportunities for developmental milestones and physical engagement. Leyla’s educators should focus on creating environments that will promote her mobility, enhancing her understanding, communication, and interaction with the world. An approach that can be taken is that during story time, her educators can foster dynamic story sessions that encourage creative expression and improve connections through stories that support movement-based communication, thus achieving developmental objectives.

Natural environments play a vital part in children’s learning and discovery process. Educators can continually enhance children’s progress by fostering activities such as environmental climbing structures and cultural dances, which will foster a sense of being and belonging whilst promoting unrestricted gross motor exploration. Educators should continuously observe and reflect to incorporate new movement approaches into their education curriculum by promoting a holistic approach, allowing children to express their curiosity and physiological intelligence, which is where the deepest learning begins (Wilson,1997).

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Australian Government. (2021). Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (birth to 5 years): An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep [Guidelines]. https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021/05/24-hour-movement-guidelines-birth-to-5-years-brochure.pdf

ACECQA. (2018). Belonging, being & becoming: The early years learning framework for australia. In ACECQA. ACECQA.https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-02/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf

Admin, M. (2024, November 4). Develop early numeracy skills with these outdoor activities. MindChamps Early Learning & Preschool Australia. https://www.mindchampselc.edu.au/blog/develop-early-numeracy-skills-with-these-outdoor-activities/

CECE Early Childhood Videos at Eastern CT State U. (2013, January 30). Encouraging physical activity in preschoolers [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHtD_63rjFQ

Emma Elle’s Italian Kitchen (@emmaellesokc) • Instagram photo. (n.d.). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DEIS_jKJ6Ec/

World Health Organization: WHO. (2024, June 26). Physical activity. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity

Guiding learning during block play. (n.d.). https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/guiding-learning-during-block-play

Wilson, R. A. (n.d.). The Wonders of Nature: Honoring Children’s Ways of knowing. https://uucmthemes.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/wonders-of-nature-wilson.pdf

Wilson, R. (1997). A sense of place. Early Childhood Education Journal, 24(3), 191-194. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02353278 ISSN: 15731707

Wizard. (2024, December 28). How music and movement benefit kids in daycare. Discovery Time Learning Center. https://discoverytimelearning.com/how-music-and-movement-benefit-kids-in-daycare/

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Learning outcome 3: "Children have a strong sense of identity" (ACECQA, 2018, p.45).

Through outdoor play, Leyla is strengthening her resilience, confidence, and physical health while developing stronger ties to her environment.

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Learning Outcome 5: "Children are effective communicators" (ACECQA, 2018, p.58).

Leyla is experimenting with new forms of social interaction and artistic expression through dance and music.