The Creative Curriculum® for Pre-K - Criterion 2.8

The Creative Curriculum for Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for supporting gross motor skills (2.8a). 

Guidance is provided in Foundation Volume 3: Social-Emotional, Physical & Cognitive Development, which supports teachers in promoting physical development objectives, three of which directly relate to gross motor learning: Objective 4, “Demonstrates traveling skills”; Objective 5, “Demonstrates balancing skills”; and Objective 6, “Demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills.” 

The materials provide consistent, intentional support for gross motor development through embedded activities. Gross motor learning is primarily delivered through Intentional Teaching Experience (ITE) cards, which include clearly defined objectives and, in many cases, optional video guidance accessed via QR codes. The materials include a daily suggested Physical Intentional Teaching Experience. These structured lessons are typically implemented during outdoor play and provide children with regular opportunities to engage in purposeful movement experiences. Suggested schedules include at least 60 minutes of outdoor and gross motor time each day, with both morning and afternoon sessions. Teachers are encouraged to offer both the suggested Intentional Teaching Experiences and ample time for children to engage in gross motor activities of their own choosing, supporting a balance between structured instruction and child-directed movement.

The materials include developmentally-appropriate gross motor activities. For example, in the Light study during Outdoor Play, teachers use Intentional Teaching Cards with videos provided for teachers to review in advance, and students practice body balance and kicking on back-to-back days. These experiences support repeated practice and skill reinforcement. While the curriculum includes developmentally appropriate gross motor activities, these activities do not consistently include clearly articulated learning goals. The Teaching Sequences within Physical ITEs provide scaffolding by increasing the level of challenge within a specific activity; however, these sequences focus on progression within the activity itself and do not illustrate how gross motor skills develop or become more complex across lessons or over time within the curriculum.

Foundation Volume 3: Social-Emotional, Physical & Cognitive Development, Chapter 6, provides information on planning for physical development in the classroom. The materials also include some guidance for teachers in the Foundations volumes on supporting physical development and on connecting movement to other content areas, such as outdoor investigations and transition routines. For example, children go outdoors to observe sunlight and shade (science investigation practices), then transition using a structured movement routine (Mighty Minutes 269). Some Mighty Minutes activities also connect SEL, math, and literacy with movement. For example, Mighty Minutes 194 Wind-Up Robots has children move fast/slow like robots—supporting self-regulation and listening while engaging the body. Mighty Minutes 259 If You’re Wearing… layers in varied actions (hop, stomp, run in place) and can be adapted to include counting actions or letter/name cues supporting both movement and academic concepts during transitions. Mighty Minutes 258, Let’s Build a House!, uses purposeful body movements (sawing, hammering) that connect to building concepts and vocabulary. 

Overall, The Creative Curriculum for Pre-K materials provides regular opportunities for children to engage in gross motor development through a combination of structured Intentional Teaching Experiences and child-directed movement. The materials include developmentally appropriate activities aligned to key physical development objectives and offer guidance in the Foundations volumes to support implementation. Opportunities for movement are embedded throughout the day, including Outdoor Play, transitions, and selected connections to other content areas. While these experiences support practice and engagement, learning goals are not consistently articulated within activities. Teaching Sequences within Physical ITEs support increasing challenges within individual activities, but do not consistently show how skills build in complexity over time.

TThe Creative Curriculum for Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for supporting fine motor skills (2.8b).

Guidance is provided in Foundation Volume 3: Social-Emotional, Physical & Cognitive Development, which supports teachers in promoting physical development objectives, 1 of which directly relates to fine motor learning: 

Objective 7: Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination 

1. Uses fingers and hands

2. Uses writing and drawing tools

The Foundations provides some guidance on fine-motor development (Volume 3, pp. 76–78, 112; Volume 1, p. 38). Foundations, Volume 3, pg. 94 prompts teachers to watch for the correct scissors grip. Interest Areas guidance reinforces that fine-motor work is not confined to a single “physical” time. Foundations, Volume 2, pg. 75–76 provides some guidance for engaging in small-muscle work through classroom materials and experiences (e.g., Art tools such as child-sized scissors, adhesives, manipulatives, and construction materials).

According to the Year at a Glance, fine motor skills are embedded daily throughout the year. The materials include some opportunities for children to engage in fine-motor activities across studies, interests, and daily routines. The examples demonstrate that children interact with materials that require hand strength and coordination, such as hole punching, tracing shapes, using scissors and glue, constructing with craft sticks or geoboards, threading yarn, and creating books or cards. Additional opportunities appear through routines such as Mighty Minutes (e.g., Flexing Fingers or All Thumbs) and through writing-related experiences like LL42 Daily Sign-In, where teachers observe how children hold writing tools and may provide support such as adapted grips.

In the Seeds study (p. 19), during Choice Time, students are invited to use tweezers to sort seeds into different containers. In the same study, p. 15, during Art time, students are invited to draw the different seeds they explore in their journals, a fine-motor task. Journal drawing tasks are included in each study, but the expectation is the same to “create observational drawings of … “.

The range of activities included covers some fine motor skills. Targeted activities for grip control and manual dexterity, such as cutting, threading, or lacing, are present, but opportunities and teacher guidance vary in frequency across the materials. For example, in the Building a Classroom Community study (pg. 37), it states, “you may stock items such as tweezers, tongs, magnifying glasses, and tools in the discovery area;” however, these are optional, and there are no intentional activities embedded to guide children in using these items. Independent discovery time (pg. 59): students are invited to use 2 or 3 crayons to draw a simple pattern; however, there is no instruction or guidance on tracing shapes or on proper grip of the writing utensil.

There are some Physical Intentional Teaching Experiences related to fine-motor skills objectives, such as:

P01  Let’s Sew

P02 Over & Under

P03 Twisted Pretzels

P08 Cutting With Scissors

Cross-curricular connections appear occasionally. There are some content-area experiences with objectives related to fine-motor skills, such as:

LL13 Foam Paint Letters

LL 15 Textured Letters

LL21-Buried Treasures

M06 Tallying

M15 Molding Dough

M66 Oobleck

Overall, The Creative Curriculum for Pre-K provides some opportunities for children to engage in fine motor development through a variety of activities that support skills such as hand control and coordination. Many activities are developmentally appropriate; however, opportunities for practice and teacher guidance vary, and the complexity of tasks does not always build consistently over time. While there are some connections between fine motor experiences and other areas of learning, these connections are not always clearly developed.