Even parents are starting to express worry that their kids lack basic skills. 

Why the concern? 

It’s not necessary to be a medical expert to see that fundamental movement skills (FMS) and physical literacy are needed to live our lives. Even if our kids don’t aspire to compete at the Olympics, we know their ability to move well is going to have a big impact on their health and quality of life for years to come.

Skills such as throwing and striking are essential to many sport, recreation, and fitness activities, but they are also used in occupations 

Learning movement skills later

Fortunately, it’s never too late to improve your movement skills.  Parents can help their kids catch up in their movement skills through both organized and non-organized physical activity, by playing with them at home and by registering them in quality sport programs. 

We seem to be witnessing a general decline in fundamental movement skills in children everywhere. However, we can make a difference by understanding how to help. By proactively registering our kids in recreation programming and playing together at home, we can help to ensure that they get what they need to live fuller, healthier lives.  

“The power of this recipe comes from the three healthy ingredients that ‘boost’ each other’s goodness. It’s a perfect circle.”

Serve kids a daily diet of games and activities made up of roughly  ⅓ skills development, ⅓ confidence-boosting, and ⅓ love of movement and they’re on their way to building the very healthy habit of being active. 

Our society has changed a lot in a short period of time.  Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007. Since then, smartphones have evolved to be more powerful, easier to use, and more addictive. Think about how it has become part of your daily routine.

Now think about kids born in the smartphone era. They have instant access to unlimited entertainment and social connection. And kids can’t resist, so they spend hours every day in the digital world. 

But it’s not only technology that’s nudging kids to be inactive. Playing outdoors with other kids was a daily routine for previous generations, but it’s not for today’s kids.  

Over the last 20 years or so, play has moved from outdoors and active to indoors and sedentary. As a result, kids are moving less than they ever have. And that’s not good. 

Faced with a generation of inactive kids, some revert to solutions that worked in the past. They use the “tell kids to go play outside like my mom used to do” recipe.   

But it’s a very different world with new challenges that require new solutions and new recipes. 

One issue was that programs were heavy on skill acquisition at the expense of fun and active play. Imagine a class of Grade 7 students waiting in line to kick the soccer ball once every five minutes. They may have improved their kicking skills, but not their confidence or their love of soccer.

This recipe served to kids did not taste right to them. It had too much instruction and not enough play. It might have gotten them to move in class, but it led many kids to dislike physical education.

It  is alarming that today’s kids grow up in a world that reinforces sedentary habits. The unintended outcome is that kids develop inactive and sedentary habits. As we know, habits that are learned early in life are hard to break.

Physical literacy is the perfect recipe to achieve this goal. Imagine a world in which kids choose to move because they’ve learned to enjoy being active. Imagine these kids choosing to stay active through their teens and into adulthood.

The role of confidence in developing physical literacy

The “recipe” for physical literacy is simple: skills, confidence, and love of movement. If your child has developed a belief that they’re “just no good” at certain sports or activities, ask yourself: 

• Do they need help to learn or strengthen specific skills? 
• Do they need more practice so they can develop confidence in their abilities? 
• Do they need help to rekindle their love of movement? 

When something feels too hard, it’s because it’s too big a step from where your child is right now. We can help them find the next rung on the ladder. 

The best way to do this is through play. If a child wants to become a better runner, play games of tag so they have more opportunities to practice this skill. Activities like tree-climbing and gymnastics can also help your child develop the upper body strength they need. 

Big achievements begin with small, simple steps

Just like learning to read or play the piano, learning to move takes practice. No one expects a child’s first book to be a novel, or their first song to be a symphony. Big achievements begin with small, simple steps.

Feeling good about a small win leads to a little more confidence, which provides the momentum to attempt new challenges and experience more successes.

1. Physical literacy is simple

The term “physical literacy” may sound intimidating, but it is actually a simple concept.

Physical literacy is merely about developing the fundamental movement skills that all children need, such as running, hopping, throwing, catching and jumping. These movement skills in turn give kids the confidence to participate in different physical activities, sports, and games.

In the same way a child learns to speak by interacting with their parents from an early age, the same is true of learning to move with confidence.

2. Physical literacy is fun 

You want your kid to be active and have fun. Physical literacy, and the development of movement skills and confidence helps them engage in activities they enjoy.

3. Physical literacy is essential in today’s world

In the past, kids developed physical literacy through regular active play. But we know that both of these things have declined in recent years. As a result, many kids aren’t getting the chance to develop their physical literacy. This is why we need to help make it happen.

Physical literacy is essential today because the outdoor games and activities that filled our childhood and helped us develop movement skills have been replaced by more screen time and inactivity in general.

4. Physical literacy gets your kids active

Activities and games are a fun and simple way for your child to develop the skills they need.

Children who are physically literate will be more confident to play games, and they will have more fun playing because they know how to run, jump, throw, and all the rest.

Play is critically important in the whole process of developing physical literacy, because it gives kids a chance to enjoy and practice all of the movement skills they’ve learned.

5. What we can do

Exposing kids to different activities develops their love of movement and play. Physical literacy is no different.

If your kids learn to make movement and play a part of their day when they are young, it will become a natural part of their lives as they get older. 

The Get Set Go Kids program incorporates many fun games and activities to help them take the first steps to an active and healthy lifestyle.

It’s a question that often generates heated discussion among coaches and sport parents. All too often, in most sports, children are pushed to specialize too early.

Too many coaches and parents push kids to focus on one sport long before secondary school in the belief that they will “miss out” if they don’t. The thinking is that they need to “get ahead” by putting in the extra hours and staying away from other sports.

Meanwhile, the research suggests that specializing too early probably prevents most kids from reaching their full potential in their sport. 

So, how exactly could specialization reduce their success?

It’s connected to physical literacy and the need to develop a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional skills within sport. When researchers look at top athletes across a range of sports, the majority of them are distinguished by broad athletic ability from playing a variety of sports as children. This doesn’t happen when kids specialize in one sport from an early age.

(We could also talk about overuse injuries and issues with growth and the fact that premature specialization is also linked to kids dropping out of sports early – we’ll leave that for another day…)

Too many sports academies will gladly take your money, with the promise of giving your young kid a head start toward stardom. They’ll attempt to develop complex skills your kid is not ready for, in an environment that is unlikely to be suitable to justify their fees.

So, whether you have ambitions of them turning professional, or just playing for fun, give your kids the best start by developing their physical literacy and fundamental movement skills first. Once they have the necessary skills they may find their passion themselves!

A University study asked boys and girls why they played sports. Here are the top five reasons they gave:

1. To have fun.
2. To do something I’m good at.
3. To improve my skills.
4. To stay in shape.
5. To get exercise.

Surprise; “winning” didn’t even make the top ten reasons.

Study after study comes up with the same #1 result. Kids play sports for the fun of it.

And not having fun is one of the major reasons 70 percent of kids quit playing sports by the time they’re 13.

Most often it’s parents and coaches who want to win. Kids hardly care. For them, winning is just icing on the cake. They’re focused on simpler things.

Most kids would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning one. That doesn’t mean that kids don’t value winning, just that they prefer playing.

If you want your children to play sports, all you have to do is make sure they are having fun.

Should we be surprised then, that children who never develop movement skills become inactive, uncoordinated adults?

Children’s movement skills and physical literacy have been in steady decline in recent years. The failure to develop their movement skills subsequently reduces their interest and ability to participate in physical activity, and also limits their essential mobility skills into adulthood.

Experts point out that movement skills aren’t just for playing sports. Movement skills are essential to basic health and survival. This physical literacy may be viewed as a “vaccine” against the inactivity crisis that threatens our future generations.

The overriding message is that physical literacy isn’t just for sports. It’s part of a spectrum of essential life skills that children need to live complete, healthy lives.

Let’s give them the skills, confidence and love of movement to be physically active for life!