Hi holistic development is the concept of taking the whole individual into account. This quote from
page 318 of the Early Years Educator handbook shows the benefits of having a holistic approach to children's physical development
The benefits of physical development to children's holistic learning and development
Physical development affects many other areas of development and, consequently, children's learning. This is because, as we have already seen in earlier units, development is interconnected. Where children's physical development is being promoted through a range of different opportunities and also encouraged by the adult, children re likely to benefit. Promoting children's physical development includes being aware of children who are not showing typical development. This is important too because, if a child has a development delay or medical condition which affects their physical development, other areas of learning are likely to be affected. This is one reason why, in the early months and years o a child's life, there are many screening programmes designed to pick up on any areas of potential difficulty.
Page 319 then details how holistic development involves all areas of learning and shows how physical development links to 5 areas;
Emotional development: as young children learn how to do things for themselves, such as dress and feed themselves, they are likely to gain in confidence and feel less frustrated.
Cognitive development: children need to touch, move and explore in order to learn concepts (experiential learning) build ideas and develop memories
Communication and language: as children move and touch, they are likely to want to talk about what they can see and do.
Social development: being able to move, touch and hold things enables children to join in play with others eg. playing a board game, playing hide and seek.
Learning: young children are also recognised as being active learners who learn by touching, holding and moving eg. in order to learn how to write they need to mark-make first. Without physical development children's opportunities for learning are reduced.
Hth