Our Curriculum

Physical development
RAFAKidz Big Red Blob

The Early Years Foundation Stage says:

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives.

Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults.

By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being.

Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allows children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

Physical development

Practitioners at RAFAKidz arrange the spaces used by the children to ensure that they can move freely, develop their physical skills and interact with other children and their surroundings.

Being outside is important, our practitioners will encourage children to spend as much time as possible outside where they can be in the fresh air, have the space to move, make a noise and take risks. Practitioners will teach children how to recognise danger, make decisions about what is safe and what isn’t and adjust what they do to be safe.

For children aged under two years practitioners provide safe spaces for babies to roll, crawl and pull themselves to stand safely. They will have lots of opportunities to explore different objects with all their senses, developing hand to eye coordination and learning to handle things such as a spoon and a cup. In these first two years of life, they will make continual progress in what they can do: from sitting to walking to running and from grasping with their fists to picking up increasingly small things with their first finger and thumb. RAFAKidz practitioners also support children through weaning to learning to eat a wide range of foods and use a spoon to feed themselves and drink independently from an appropriate cup.

Key Skills

  • sitting
  • crawling or moving themselves around the room
  • pulling up to stand
  • taking their first steps
  • grasping
  • picking up objects with their thumb and first finger

For children aged two to three years, practitioners will be encouraging children to move, climb, balance, run and jump; supporting the child’s development of physical literacy (co-ordination, control, movement of all parts of their body). RAFAKidz practitioners will be continually developing the outdoor space to maximise opportunities for children to exercise, be in the fresh air and learn from nature.

Key Skills

  • run well
  • kick a ball
  • jump with both feet off the ground
  • sit well on a chair or the floor
  • propel themselves on a trike or strider
  • handle resources and equipment such as puzzles, threading with large beads, using a spoon and fork with increasing skill
  • use the toilet with help

For children aged three to four years practitioners provide a wide range of opportunities for children to practise and hone their large body and fine finger movements. Children will learn to run, stop, start and avoid objects, balance and climb with increasing confidence and skill. They will be able to handle tools, resources and cutlery with precision. RAFAKidz practitioners will work with parents/carers to help children become independent with putting on their own coats and shoes, managing the toilet and eating a wide range of foods and making healthy choices.

Key Skills

  • balancing on one leg
  • throwing and catching a ball
  • using stairs safely
  • use their bodies to move, stretch, curl, slither with control
  • remember and make simple movement sequences such as, in dance
  • use a pencil with a comfortable grip and control
  • use scissors and other one-handed tools
  • use the bathroom independently
  • dress and undress with little help
Airplane Dots
Airplane Dots

We use music and movement programmes to help children develop their confidence and fine skill with movement in a fun and inviting way. Practitioners will provide challenging activities that help children develop their hand-eye coordination, handle tools and resources and acquire the skills to hold a pencil and start to write.