In order for a three year old child to be physically, emotionally and psychologically healthy childcare centres or parents/carers should fulfil their child’s physical needs together with psychological needs. We are going to point out and discuss on a three year old child’s physical and psychological needs and how they can affect the child’s physical, emotional and psychological health. A three year old child needs to be well fed, given ample of rest and should be encouraged doing physical exercise. They should also be given precautions of safety everywhere. For a child to be clean, childcare centres or parents/carers should reinforce personal hygiene in a child’s daily routine. A child needs to be emotionally and psychologically strong to fight their weaknesses. They need to be showered with lots of love, affection and respect. They also need to socialise with the environment that they are in. If these needs are fulfilled then the child would be emotionally and socially strong and healthy.

What is a need? A need is defined as a requirement, something that you have to have, a thing necessary for life. There are basic needs which every living thing needs in order to live. Some examples of basic needs are shelter, fresh air to breath, food and water. Therefore a physical need is “something that is necessary for organisms to live a healthy and productive life” (What Is the Meaning of Physical Needs, undated). Children also have their own physical needs as an individual to grow up healthy and well mannered. Some of the examples of these needs are physical exercise, well-balanced diet, adequate rest and sleep, personal hygiene, security, secure environment and many more. Specific physical needs of a three year old child, when provided proportionately, give children a healthy and secure life as they grow up. These needs are physical exercise, well-balanced diet, rest, safety and personal hygiene. All these physical needs would lead to good health, which is one of the physical needs.

Physical exercise keeps the child physically healthy by encouraging “optimal development of the muscles, heart and lungs” (MCI, (undated b), Chp 2, pp13). Many diseases and health problems can be washed away or can also be prevented by daily physical exercise. While practising physical exercise blood flows to all parts of the body including the brain thus activating the child’s mind psychologically. The child’s social interactions can improve when given some space to do physical exercise. Outdoor exercise would be the best as there would be great space. Secondly children could even obtain vitamin D. It has also been recently found that when children play outside during the day, thus getting exposed to sunlight, their eyes tend to benefit. “...both exposures to natural sunlight, and focusing on distance objects appear to play major roles in improving children’s eyesight” (Isaacs & Blythe, 2013, pp37). Childcare centres should give at least some minutes or an hour to let the children explore the playground around the childcare centre. They should be taught all types of physical exercise which would be managed with ease by the children. They should also be taught swimming and cycling as these exercises strengthen the bones and muscles plus they also open up their minds psychologically. Swimming and cycling can also secure the child in case of accidents in future.

Providing a well-balanced diet to the child by the parent/carer keeps the child’s body healthy as all the nutrients and fibres needed by the body are provided to them. In a child’s plate there should be proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fats. Most vitamins come from fruits and veggies. And some fruits and carbohydrates contain fibre which eases food digestion in the body. Carbohydrates together with fats give energy to the body which can be used during play. Proteins and minerals help the body to grow and repair any damaged body cells. A well-balanced diet psychologically activates the mind and the children can easily understand and reason out. Childcare centres should provide well-balanced meals for the children during lunch hours. They should also provide healthy snacks during short-break periods. They should make sure that the foods they give the children should be fresh, not stale as it can cause food poisoning.

Children should be given at least a couple of hours to rest during the day. They should not be forced, rather should be allowed to take a nap as their body and mind could be given some time to rest. Working or playing the whole day can physically weaken the body and the mind. When children are provided with good sleep they tend to fall less sick than those who are deprived of sleep because “Good sleep is as important as good nutrition!” (Greenbaum, 2013). Three year old children should at least require twelve to thirteen hours of sleep as this can provide a healthy immune system. When children are deprived of sleep it may affect their behaviour and body functions such as healing and growth. Children’s minds also tend to slow down and respond late. Childcare centres should provide children at least an hour of sleep. They should make sure that the place the children take their nap should be dust free and there should be no insects around to harm the children. When children do not feel like sleeping then they should at least sit in a quiet place and read and they carers should make sure that these children do not disturb those children who are sleeping.

Parents/carers should provide the highest level of safety precautions for small children as “safety of the environment will affect the child” (MCI, undated a, Chp 3, pp26). Children should be taught what is safe for them and what is not. Childcare centres or parents/carers should teach their children on road safety, not talking to strangers or accepting anything given from them, kitchen safety. Children should be kept away from harmful fumes exhausted from the kitchen or outside home. They should be also kept away from harmful plants which when touched or swallowed affect his/her health. Too much exposure to the sun or rain can affect the child’s health as skin cancers and sunburns or cough and flu can occur. Parents/ carers should always accompany their children to the bathroom or they should at least put on towel-carpets on the floors near the tub, basin area or shower area. If not taken serious precautions for the chid it may affect his/her mental and physical health.

What is personal hygiene? Personal hygiene is the self-cleanliness which, in the long run, prevents illnesses therefore leading to a good and healthy life. Therefore personal hygiene can also be termed as ‘good health’. Personal hygiene should be taught to children as they are growing up. When children grow up they tend to imitate the habits they see in their parents/carers, therefore it is very important that the parents/carers should have and practise in front of their child their personal hygiene habits in their daily routine. They should also instil these habits in their children’s daily routine. Personal hygiene include taking a bath twice a day, washing hands before and after eating and after visiting toilets, brushing their teeth after every meal to prevent cavities and cleansing and cutting their finger and toe nails. Parents/carers should toilet train their children from an early age so that children can become independent when they need to relive themselves.

There are also psychological needs for everyone including children. What is psychology? Psychology is the study of the mind. If a person’s mind is affected so do the behaviours of that person are affected. Therefore psychological needs are “feelings of deprivation to an individual’s mental well being” (Bradmore, 2004). For a child to grow up physically and psychologically healthy their psychological needs need to be met. Some of the examples of psychological needs are love, attention, friendship and understanding their emotional and social needs. If the parent/carer loses out one of these psychological needs than the loss would create a big impact on the child’s behaviour and social well being.

Love is a very important need for not only children but everyone. The child receives the first love from their parents, especially the carer, which is, mostly, their mother. Infants get much closer to their mothers than to anyone else because they can easily sense the love from them. The child grows healthy when their mother loves them and Bowlby (1951) in Macleod-Brudenell & Kay, (2008) (p99) argued that “mother-love in infancy and childhood was as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health”. Childcare centres should reassure the child that they are in safe hands and that they are loved. This way they child will not be distressed when their parents or the people they are attached to are not there with him/her.

All children need attention from their parents/carer. When the child is talking they need to be attentively listened to. They feel good when they are provided with attention. “When you ignore him he will behave negatively to attract your attention” (Chua C K, 2009) and this could affect his psychology. When children are telling stories in class or in childcare centres then it is a must that the carer gives attention to the child.

While giving attention to children, the parent/carer needs to respect what the children say or do. Childcare centres or parents should emphasis the child to respect him/herself as this would boost their “self-respect” (Chua C K, 2009). Their self-respect would encourage others to respect them and this would therefore teach the children to respect others. Parents/carers should remember that only when they respect the child, the child, in return, will learn how to respect them and respect others. Respect is a very important need for a child to grow up. When children do or say something good then it is a must for the parents/carers to boost their “self-esteem” (Macleod-Brudenell &Kay, 2008) by praising them for their actions or what they have said because through this will the child know what people think of him/her. When the child has done something wrong or has not understood what the parent/carer have explain to him/her then the parent/carer have no right to embarrass the child as this would break his/her self-esteem.

Children need to socialise with the surrounding, that is their family, friends and teachers. They should learn to make new friends wherever they go because they will eventually understand themselves better as friendships “tells us things about ourselves” (Macleod-Brudenell & Kay, 2008). But in order to socialise, children need to have “high self-esteem” (Macleod-Brudenell & Kay, 2008) because only then will they have self-confidence and will be able to talk and play with others. They will also not depend on others for help or support on small issues. They should learn how to share their toys with their fellow friends or age mates. Childcare centres or carers should encourage children to play or to work in groups, rather than doing it individually, as this would mix different ideas and would encourage the children to go further on with their work.

While children are making friends parents/carers should be careful on what kind of friends the children make because sometimes friendships can affect the child’s behaviours as they can be easily influenced by their fellow friends. A young child’s role model is always a teacher or parents/carers. Therefore childcare centres or parents/carers should advise or practically show children on how to maintain friendships. They should also prevent children from getting bullied in school, at home or anywhere else. Getting bullied in school can affect a child’s emotional and psychological health thus breaking their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Therefore for a three year old child to be physically, emotionally and mentally healthy the above needs need to be met in a childcare setting.