They're off!

You will notice remarkable changes in a child's physical skills during the pre-school years. The most obvious milestone is her first step. That very moment when she surges forward on her own two feet without any support whatsoever - often within a few months either side of her first birthday - signals a new stage of independence for her. Now she can move around on her own whenever she wants. The infant realises she is less dependent on others and she thoroughly enjoys this new-found skill.

But walking is not the only physical skill that develops in this area.There are lots of other aspects of locomotion that show progress too. For example, a child has increasingly better balance when she moves, she is more adept at climbing over furniture or across any obstacle in her path, she enjoys playing with large outdoor equipment, she learns to hop, skip and jump, and she loves swaying her body round in time to music. This vast range of movement abilities makes her day a lot more interesting for her. True, these skills continue to develop throughout later childhood, but it is in this early part of her life that most locomotion characteristics begin to emerge.