Promote young children’s physical activity and movement skills
In this tutorial you will learn:
- That as practitioners we need to take children’s enthusiasm for physical movement and turn it into something we can use
- That physical activity is vital to children’s short and long term health
- About terms such as ‘fine motor skills’, ‘gross motor skills’ and ‘hand-eye coordination’
Table of Contents
- Tutorial Video
- Reading Materials
- ‘Laser Reading Text ‘Creating challenging environments’
- ‘Physical activity guidelines for children (under 5 years)’ from the NHS website
- ‘How to keep your baby or toddler active’ from the NHS website
- ‘What are fundamental movement skills?’ on the Active for Life website
- ‘Managing risk’ on the Play Scotland website
- ‘Physical activity in the early years’ from the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, Loughborough University
- ‘Physical activities for toddlers and preschoolers’ on the Playworld website
- 'Toolkit: Making play inclusive' from the Sense website.
- ‘Promoting Activity in Early Years Settings’ from the Early Start website
- ‘Learning and Development: Movement Play - Kick start’ from Nursery World
- ‘How Outdoor Play Can Be Beneficial for Children with Special Educational Needs’ from the Early Years Alliance
- Presentation
- Click to launch this lesson's presentation titled 'Physical activities and routines'
- Click to launch this lesson's presentation titled 'Activities to promote physical development'.
- Good Practice Example
- Good Practice Example
- View this video which was produced by Laser Learning. It looks at preparing an obstacle course for some early years children. The practitioners plan a course to build on the children’s skills and guide the children through the course. After the activity they take time to evaluate what went well, what might need to be changed before setting a course again and their evaluations of the children. Watch the video and make notes. Is there anything in the film that you can use in your setting?
- ‘Physical activity guidelines for children (under 5 years)’ from the NHS website
- ‘How to keep your baby or toddler active’ from the NHS website
- ‘What are fundamental movement skills?’ on the Active for Life website
- Interactive Quiz
- Evidence Opportunities
- Extended Learning
- Click on the web icon to visit the website of Play Scotland. Play England has a similar site; however it requires membership to access the resources.
- Click on the web icon to visit a page from the Kids Development website about encouraging physical development in early years education
- This article from Jabadao, a research, development and training organisation exploring physical development across the early years, looks at 'Supporting children who seem to be struggling with more complex movement'.
- The University of South Wales has an article on ‘Fundamental Movement Skills: A 'fundamental' part of Physical Education?’
- Read ‘Playing outdoors’ from NI Direct to lean more about the importance of outdoor environments.
- Think And Challenge
Laser Learning Ltd.
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Waterside Drive, Langley,
Berkshire, SL3 6EY