The document discusses the importance of physical movement for children under 5 years old. It explains that physical activity is important for growth and development, and helps children develop fundamental movement skills. It recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of structured physical activity per day, including activities like dancing, ball games, obstacle courses, tag, and hide and seek. The document also discusses how physical movement is important for strength and conditioning coaches to understand for developing athletic skills, and provides guidelines and examples of activities for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

1. John Hehle
K00191505

2. Outcome
 The importance of physical movement in
children under 5
 The importance of physical movement in
children for the strength and conditioning
coach
 Research
 Some activities that are used to promote the
physical movement in children
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3. The importance of physical movement in
children under 5.
 Physical activity is important for growth and
development of the child’s body and mind
 Lay the building blocks for their future well being and
general health
 Early movement patterns are then formed into
different positions – lying, sitting, standing with
support to free standing
 The development of the whole body, including the
brain comes with physical movement and they develop
essential links between thinking, language and
movement. Brain – body connection
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4.  Its from the movement on the ground that a child
can learn to develop muscle tone as an opposing
force to gravity.
 When they reach for an object they learn how
much speed and force they need to reach the target
 They develop an inner sense of where their body
starts and ends every time they kick and stretch
their legs
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5.  Kids bodies are growing every day and being
physically active improves their overall health:
 Stay at a healthy weight
 Build their strength, flexibility and endurance
 Enhance their motor skills, social skills and brain
development
 Develop strong bones
 Sleep better
 Feel confident about themselves and their bodies as they
grow
 Reduce their risk of feeling stressed and depressed
 Reduce the risk of developing obesity related illnesses
such as – type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and
unhealthy cholesterol levels.
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6.  A child needs to develop fundamental movement
skills, having these skills are an essential part of
enjoyable participation in an active lifestyle and
sports. Fundamental movement skills
 Locomotor skills – eg. Walking and running
 Body/ stability skills – eg, twisting and turning
 Manipulative skills – eg. Throwing, catching and
striking
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7. By physical movement and play children learn a
sense of
 Balance- control the movement of the body by
transferring weight
 Physical self awareness- understanding the way the
body moves and what each body part can do
 Coordination- hands, eyes and arms working together
 Symmetrical activity- develop both sides of the body in
the same way
 Basic body movements- so we can move without having
to think about it
 Large and fine muscle development
 Space and direction – to know their body position in
different surroundings
There is a strong link that higher levels of physical activity
in a childs early life will lead to a more active
participation in physical activity and sports in later
years.
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8. The importance of physical movement in children
for the strength and conditioning coach
 Regular physical activity is an essential element of a
healthy lifestyle for children and adults, and it is an area
of our health that we as sports coaches have some
control over
 The early physical movement patterns of children are
the building blocks of fundamental and basic
movements that are used in every sport.
 Fundamental movement skills such as running,
jumping, throwing and catching, confidence in water
skills are what are essential in the development of
sporting activities.
 “ Learning fundamental sports skills before mastering
fundamental movement skills reduce performance
ability later” ( Higgs, Way, Cordinal, Norris+
Bluechardt, 2008 pg.10)
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9.  All too often in the past training programmes
offered to children in sport are just watered down
or scaled down versions of adult activities
 Many Irish sports organisations have already
started to address the issue by drawing up specific
education programs for example.
 Kick start 1+2 by the Athletics association of Ireland
 Little athletics manual by the IRFU
 Fun to fame by the GAA
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10. There is a need for a much stronger focus and
investment on the early phases, within coaching
and coach education ( NCTC, 2001 pg10)
 We can learn more about the growth and
development of children emotional and physical
and how this can impact on the sporting activity
program that we deliver
 Develop our coaching skills to plan, organise and
deliver programs appropriate to the development
stage and ability of the children we coach
 Be able to understand, observe and give feedback
on fundamental movement and sports skills
 To inform parents on how they can play a role in
physical activities for their children at home
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11. Research
 To optimize the development of each child a rich
nurturing environment including movement
activity is required ( Diamond + Hopson, 1998,
Fisher+ Rose 1998)
 According to the American health organisation
physical inactivity in children is a major risk factor
for developing coronary artery disease, stroke, high
blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes
 . Early motor skills form the foundation for later
sport and exercise.(NASPE, 2002, p3)
 Physical activity is an important component of
early brain development and learning (NASPE,
2002)
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12. Physical activity guidelines for
children aged 3-5
 Accumulate 60 min of
structured physical activity dialy
 At least 60 min of unstructured
up to several hours
A study in Scotland shows 3 year olds are spending 79% and
5 year olds 76% of their time inactive ( Reilly et al, 2004)
these figures are replicated in Ireland ( Kelly et al, 2005)
According to the American heart association more than 10%
of US children aged 2-5 were overweight in 2002.
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13. Some activities that are used to promote the
physical movement in children
Infants. Should be encouraged to explore their environment
 To promote movement in infants
provide colourful and moving
mobiles over their cribs that they can
reach and grasp or kick with their feet
 Play games that encourage the infant to come and get toys
within crawling or reaching distance
 Give them opportunities to play with large blocks, stacking
toys, nesting cups, textured balls and squeezy toys
 Tummy time is recommended to help strengthen babies
necks, shoulder and torso muscle which they will need to
roll over, crawl and sit up.
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14. Toddlers, should get at least 30 min of structured
physical activity daily and several hours of unstructured
movement. Now that a child is a toddler it will no
longer be content by just playing on a blanket.
 Simple activities like a game of
follow the leader.
 Toddlers love music so there is
no better way to get their
bodies moving then some
dancing to silly songs with them.
 Just by rolling a ball over and back with them on the
floor
 Obstacle course – a great way to combine all of the
physical skills that a toddler has cecently learned like,
running, crawling and jumping
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15. Preschoolers, between the ages of 3-5 children are
starting to develop their gross motor skills and enjoy a
wide variety of activities. They should get at least 60
minutes of structured physical activity daily and
several hours of unstructured movement. These skills
are important because they are the building blocks of
for more complex and specialized skills required
through their lives to play different games and sports.
 Tag games- tag or chasing games mimic the hunting
and hunted instinct and involve physical exercise
 Relay games- are particular fun for kids and are a great
way for developing team work
 Kicking a ball
 Play hide and seek
 Playing musical chairs
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16. Conclusion
 With todays lifestyles most young children are not
moving enough
 Physical movement in the early years are critical for
children's physical and psychological growth and for
developing a lifelong healthy behavior towards sports
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17. References for , The importance of physical
movement in children under 5
 http://babyparenting.about.com/od/activitiesandplay/tp/toddler-
physical-activities.htm
 http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/standards/nationalguidelines/activestart.
cfm
 http://motherhood.modernmom.com/physical-development-activities-
toddlers-1131.html
 http://www.wilderdom.com/games/PhysicalActivities.html
 http://health.act.gov.au/kids-at-play/active-play-everyday/fundamental-
movement-skills
 http://healthykidshealthyfuture.org/activities.html
 preschool picture http://www.csuchico.edu/cnap/leap/index.shtml
 infant picture http://www.livestrong.com/article/82666-activities-
encourage-motor-development-baby/
 toddler playing everydaylife.globalpost.com
 title page picture http://www.thebohomama.com/2013/01/movement.html
 picture slide 6 http://ulster.gaa.ie/category/homepage-news/page/33/
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18. John Hehle
K00191505