The early childhood period is associated with the fundamental movement phase of motor behaviors (Baddard, 1992; Sanders, 1992; Gallahue & Donnelly, 2003). It is a crucial period for subsequent learning development (White & Watts, 1973; Skinner, 1979; Kelly & Kelly, 1984; Opper, 1992) in the intellectual, social, emotional and physical aspects. In preschool curriculum, movement has been regarded as the essence of life and the course of all learning (Vannier & Gallahue, 1978; Graham, Holt/Hale & Parker, 2007), through which young children move to explore, discover, and to interact with the world and its myriad parts (Whitehurst, 1971). It is why the Guide to the Pre-primary Curriculum (The Curriculum Development Council, 2006) has emphazied the importance of “Physical Fitness and Health” as one of the six learning areas for young children in Hong Kong. The main purposes of this paper are two-fold. First, to keep pace with the contemporary trend of early childhood curriculum, an innovative teaching approach for preschool physical education will be introduced with the ultimate goal to enhance young children’s total development in body, mind and spirit. Secondly, through the Hong Kong experience in practicing the approach, the paper will discuss the educational learning outcomes of the preschool physical education curriculum to the whole child development, namely: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, moral, creative and aesthetic aspects. It is expected that the newly innovated approach will initiate new insights to preschool teachers in designing preschool physical education curriculum and remarkable movement to the development of educationally appropriate preschool physical education practice in Hong Kong.

Early Childhood Physical Education (ECPE) is core curriculum in preschools. Children are physical beings and full of curiosity and drive to learn through physical play and movement which have been named as early childhood physical education. Young children are learning a great deal as they move about (Davis, 1996), and explore, learn, experience and interact with the world and its myriads parts (Whitehurst, 1971). Gallahaue and Donnelly (2003) has emphasized that movement is at the centre of young children’s lives. In Hong Kong, the Curriculum Development Council (2006) has issued the Guide to Pre-primary Curriculum and has emphasized the aim of early childhood education as fostering children’s whole person development. In light of this, the core of the curriculum framework is the four developmental objectives for young children, namely physical development, cognitive and language development, affective and social development; and aesthetic development. Given that, the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) has developed various ECPE modules since 1995 for different levels of programmes from Certificate, BEd (Hons), and to Postgraduate Diploma. The main purposes of this paper are twofold: first, to review the development of ECPE modules in the HKIEd; and secondly, to make recommendations for early childhood teacher education in Hong Kong. The findings have revealed that due to the inadequate credit points, tutors has been facing the dilemmas / difficulties in teaching both theoretical and practical core elements in these modules. Besides, students’ altitudes and abilities towards Physical Education have influenced their learning greatly. To provide high quality teacher education in ECPE, recommendations have been made in program structure, module contents, credit points and resources in this paper.

Creative dance is one type of art forms, which is an international language for young children’s expression and exploration in their experienced world. However, creative dance has not been accepted in the Hong Kong official curriculum Guide to the Pre-primary Curriculum (The Curriculum Development Council, 2006). It is recommended that appropriate time allocation for half-day and full-day music activities are 45-60 and 60-105 mins respectively; only for Physical Fitness / Music / Arts activities. In fact, creative dance is the integral curriculum to enhance young children’s holistic development. The aims of this paper are three-fold. First, it examines the constraints on the development of preschool creative dance in Hong Kong. Secondly, it introduces an innovative Creative Dance Framework for early childhood curriculum in aesthetic education. Thirdly, it recommends the possible strategies on the development of creative dance in Hong Kong. The five major constraints include: Curriculum Guide, School Curriculum Policy, Curriculum and Resources, Professional Support, Teacher Education.

Music is the integral and core curriculum in early childhood education. It plays a very important role for children's holistic development. In Hong Kong, kindergarten teachers have adopted different approaches in the teaching of music. Among them, Carl Orff approach has been viewed as one of the most popular approaches. According to the Guide to the Pre-primary Curriculum (The Curriculum Development Council, 2006), the appropriate time allocation for half-day and full-day music activities are 45-60 and 60-105 mins respectively; including the physical fitness and arts activities. The aims of this paper are three-fold. Firstly, it examines the changes of the school-based Carl Orff curriculum as compared to that of in 2014. Secondly, it investigates the existing constraints on the curriculum reform in the kindergarten. Thirdly, the practical recommendations on the successful implementation of the school-based Carl Orff curriculum will be discussed. It is a qualitative Case Study with emphasis on collecting qualitative data from class observations, unstructured interviews with the music teacher and principal, unstructured conversation with students, video analysis and curriculum study. The analysis and recommendations will be conducted according to Schwab's (1973) four Commonplaces in Curriculum: Subject Matter, 60 Learner, Teacher, and Milieu. The five existing major constraints have been grouped into: curriculum design, teaching resources; facilities and equipment; professional support; teacher education and development.