The Arts, Health, and Physical Education
What is tested
How young children develop in the arts and in physical, health, and safety domains, and how to plan creative, movement-rich, health-promoting experiences.
Visual arts and music
Art is a process for young children. Development moves from scribble, to placement, to named shapes, to representation (Kellogg's stages; Lowenfeld's scribble, preschematic, schematic sequence). Avoid templates and adult-drawn models that erase children's reasoning. Ask 'Tell me about your picture' rather than 'What is it?' In music, explore steady beat, rhythm, pitch matching, tempo, and dynamics through singing games and instruments before any notation.
Physical education
Fundamental movement skills fall into three groups: locomotor (run, skip, hop, gallop), stability or non-locomotor (balance, bend, twist), and manipulative (throw, catch, kick, strike). Young children need frequent moderate-to-vigorous activity, daily unstructured recess, and repeated practice; give one skill cue at a time.
Health and safety
Nutrition with MyPlate (fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, dairy), handwashing, toothbrushing, sleep, illness exclusion, allergies and asthma, sun and water safety, pedestrian and bus safety, and emergency drills. Body awareness, protective behaviors, and consent language ('your body belongs to you') also belong here.
Worked example
A preschool teacher displays a sample ladybug and hands out pre-cut red circles. Reasoning: the products look identical, but children make no observations, decisions, or fine-motor problem-solving. Replace it with open materials and the prompt 'What do you notice about ladybugs?' so children choose shapes and colors; assessment becomes their talk about their own work.
Traps
Judging art by neatness; using exercise as punishment; assuming large-muscle skills develop without practice; treating health as a one-time unit instead of a routine.