Teaching fundamental movement skills

Fundamental movement skills are the building blocks of movement. They are a specific set of gross motor movements that involve different body parts such as the feet, legs, trunk, hands, arms and head, and are essential for children's participation in sport and physical activity throughout life. As children do not naturally learn these skills as part of their normal growth and development, fundamental movement skills need to be taught, and it is important for educators to provide direction and feedback to children. While mastery of the fundamental movement skills may not be accomplished by some children until they reach primary school age, it is essential to provide the opportunity to explore and practice these skills in the early childhood years, whilst keeping them fun. Feedback and guidance will also help to ensure that children develop skills correctly. Children develop individually and at different rates. It is more important to understand skill development as sequential, focusing on children progressing through different stages, rather than being proficient by a particular age. Fundamental movement skills are categorized into three groups: stability skills, locomotor skills and manipulative skills. Stability skills are movements where the body remains in place but moves around its horizontal and vertical axis. Locomotor skills are movements where the body moves from one place to another. Manipulative skills are those which involve giving or receiving force to or from an object. This resource will focus on the locomotor and manipulative skills. Educators need to be familiar with the correct technique for each fundamental movement skill, so that they can identify errors and demonstrate the correct way to perform a skill. Educators should provide children with lots of direction and positive encouragement to help them become more proficient and confident in performing fundamental skills. 

Fundamental movement skills are essential for children's participation in sport and physical activity throughout life. This section will provide some examples of group games and activities that incorporate fundamental movement skills, and enable children to practice and develop their fundamental movement skills. When practicing fundamental movement skills, educators should demonstrate the skill to the children and then teach each component of the skill. The skill can then be incorporated into a game or active play. Games and activities in this section are taken from Munch & Move program resources. Other games and activities are also available in the Munch & Move resource manual. 

Stability skills are movements where the body remains in place but moves around its horizontal and vertical axis. For example: balancing, stretching, bending and twisting. These skills are needed in order to progress on to locomotor and manipulative skills.  Balancing in particular is important.  Balance is when there is an even distribution of weight on each side of a vertical axis. Static balance is where a child is balanced while stationary, and dynamic balance is where balance is maintained while moving.  Static balance develops before dynamic balance. Children can be encouraged to hold their arms out to maintain balance and can practice balancing by moving along balance beams or similar equipment though obstacle courses, moving while balancing a beanbag on different parts of their body, or through dance and yoga. 

So are we ready to do our warm up, to get our bodies nice and warm so we can do some Munch & Move outside?  Yeah! Before we begin the warm up activities we talk about the importance of move and why we need to warm up our bodies.  Through talking about physical activity with the children before we start our warm up, we hope to provide the children with an understanding of why physical activity is important for our health and wellbeing. In the ocean room we have tried to make physical activity part of our daily routine and teach the children the importance of physical activity in our daily lives, and through the range of activities we try to instil that being physically active is an enjoyable part as well. The Munch & Move warm up song is just lots of fun.  Through actively moving our bodies in a range of ways to the music we're promoting the stability skills of balancing when we freeze, locomotor skills when we are jumping, hopping and running on the spot.  We sing a modified version of ’Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’ which is called ‘This is the Way I Gallop’, from the Munch & Move resource book.  This song has been a long-time favourite in the preschool room at Short Street as it is fun, energetic and can get everyone involved.  Over time we have changed how we present this activity to ensure that all the children are active for longer, so instead of sitting down after their gallop around the circle the children continue to gallop as each child stands up to have their turn.  This song allows the children to practice the fundamental movement skills of galloping within a fun, game-based activity. This year we have lots of younger children transitioning into the ocean room, so at the moment we are  focusing on encouraging the children to actively participate in the activity rather than the technique, which we can focus on later as they become more comfortable in the room and as their skills develop as well.  At the end, when all the children are galloping the educators then join in. The educators believe this is extremely important, as it provides opportunity for the children to see the educators actively participating in physical activity and also modelling the fundamental movement skills. After we have warmed up our bodies with these action songs, we then undertake some simple stretches with the children, getting ready for our fundamental movement skills game ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf? Seven o’clock!’  This is a simple game which has been around for a very long while, which involves one child being the wolf and the rest of the children calling out, ‘What's the time Mr. Wolf?’, to which the wolf replies with a time.  The children then take steps towards the wolf to match the time given, before it’s dinner time and the wolf chases the children.  At the moment we have quite a few younger children who need educator’s support in this game.  However through minimal prompts and support the children are able to participate. As the activity runs educators are not only able to model but also reinforce and correct fundamental movement skills technique.  During our game of ‘What's the Time Mr. Wolf’ we are focusing on the fundamental movement skills of running and galloping.  We've also found that through playing the game together the children learn the game quickly and will repeat this throughout their play, giving them further opportunity to practice and refine the fundamental movement skills through their own active play.  After our fundamental movement skills game, ‘What's the Time Mr. Wolf’, we begin to cool down our bodies with a song, ‘Together Everyone Together’, to relax our muscles.  Through using ‘Rockabye Your Bear’ it is a song that all the children know.  It starts off with lots of movement and is quieter, softer tones as the bear falls asleep. This helps the children slow down their minds and bodies and their breathing.  We can then sing another calming song such as ‘Winding the Bobbin Up’. Living in a world which is very busy, often there is little time to stop and be mindful of our bodies and our surroundings.  Through the addition of some basic yoga for relaxation, the educators are aiming to provide opportunity for the children to stretch their bodies, develop body awareness and the awareness of their breathing.  Yoga helps to engage the children in the slower activity and refocus their attention back to themselves and the present. 

Safety should be considered when planning all physical activity, especially to ensure that children do not collide or otherwise injure themselves or other children. Children’s clothing and footwear should be appropriate to support physical activity. Some safety guidelines should also be followed and children should be regularly encouraged to drink water and stay hydrated. The National Quality Framework recognises the importance of fundamental movement skills, highlighting the significance of physical activity in the Early Years Learning Framework Learning Outcome 3, children have a strong sense of wellbeing, especially when children take increasing responsibility for their own health and physical wellbeing. Physical activity is also a focus in the National Quality Standard Quality Area 2, Children’s Health and Safety, with physical activity being addressed in Element 2.2.2., physical activity is promoted though planned and spontaneous experiences and is appropriate for each child. Each of the fundamental movement skills consists of a specific set of components. There are a number of common errors that children may make as they practice their fundamental movement skills. Some of these common errors will be identified for each skill, as well as ways that educators can help children to correct their technique. These corrections are often as simple as providing a verbal cue to children to help them understand how to correctly perform a skill, and demonstrating correct technique so that children can replicate the educator’s movement. 

Space needs to be provided both indoors and outdoors, so that children can move safely and develop their fundamental movement skills. Time also needs to be scheduled to incorporate fundamental movement skills into structured and unstructured play. Fundamental movement skills should be demonstrated, practiced and embedded into everyday activities such as transition times, music and movement, active play time, risky play, as well as intentional fundamental movement skill learning experiences. 

These are just examples of some of the many games that incorporate fundamental movement skills, and numerous other favourite children’s games can also be used to develop these fundamental movement skills. For example Bulrush, Duck Duck Goose, and What's the Time Mr. Wolf can be played introducing other locomotor skills, such as hopping or galloping. Consider ways to embed fundamental movement skills throughout the day, for example during transition times, music and movement, active play time, as well as intentional fundamental movement skill learning experiences. Educators should also have plans for ways to implement fundamental movement skill experiences in both the indoor and outdoor environments, especially to cater for wet or hot weather. Remember, embedding fundamental movement skills into your Early Childhood Education and Care service will assist in meeting the requirements of the National Quality Framework, in particular National Quality Standard 2.2: healthy eating and physical activity are embedded in the program for children, and the Early Years Learning Framework Learning Outcome 3: children have a strong sense of wellbeing. 

After attending the Munch & Move training and learning about the physical activity recommendations, I reflected upon the amount of physical activity the children in my service actually participated in. I remember one of the examples from the workshop was how to add more physical activity to familiar games.  This led me to think about the popular game Duck Duck Goose.  This is a game which I'm sure most children love playing but if you think about it only two children are being physically active at the one time. I wanted to ensure that all children involved in this experience had the opportunity to move around, rather than sitting and waiting for a turn. In the National Quality Standard Element 2.2.2 it encourages children to have a voice in the planning of the physical activity experience, so at the start of the game I sat down with the children and asked them what they could do instead of sitting down when we play the game.  It was great to hear all the different ideas for movement.  We then played the game, with how they would move in the circle.  Get on your horse.  This was such a simple modification that has now made Duck Duck Goose a more physically active game for all participants.  I'm now looking at other familiar games that the children can play, and with their help thinking of ways that we can incorporate more movement. 

Having fun both indoors and outdoors whilst engaged in physically active games and activities is a major consideration when educators are planning or presenting learning experiences to children attending Short Street Occasional Care Centre.  The Captain's Coming game is a particular favourite for both children and educators as it allows children the opportunity of practice and reinforced locomotive fundamental movement skills.  An activity without too many rules or the need for lots of equipment or space, the Captain’s Coming game is set aboard a boat or a ship, in this case a pirate ship as this is a children's favourite. Educators previously mark a specific area for the children to remain in under the pretence of this being the boat or the ship they're sailing upon.  Roles are then assigned to various children, for instance the captain, the captain's girlfriend and the crew, in this case buccaneers.  Educators then explain the various movements required for the children to enact whilst playing the game, for instance saluting when the captain appears, shaking the hips and saying woohoo for the captain's girlfriend, outlining positions to run to on the boat or the ship, running to the front for the bow, back for the stern, to the right for starboard and to the left for port, crouching on all fours to scrub the deck, pretending to haul on the ropes or to hoist the sails or Jolly Roger, and to balance along the pre-drawn outline when they are instructed to walk the rim.  Lots of movement, all while the children are engaged in enacting this activity. Educators need to continue with a sense of drama by reminding children not to fall off the boat or the ship or they'll be eaten by the sharks.  Not only does this ensure participants remain within the perimeters of the game, but they can be easily supervised in the system when and if necessary.  When presenting this activity to children I always try to remember that we don't necessarily need additional props and/or equipment to enhance the activity. However it's important to remain flexible to children's needs and the children asked for these props to be included today. In fact all that's really needed is energetic, enthusiastic educators who have a sense of fun and genuinely enjoy engaging and interacting with children in a physically active game that is dramatic, imaginative, full of exploration and discovery, and engages the children in lots of movement, including the fundamental movement skills.  This year we've had a number of three year old children transition into the preschool room. This is an addition to including children with additional needs and has meant that we've had to break down the children's physical skills into easier tasks, focusing mainly on skills such as running, balancing on predraw lines on the floor or grass, large hand and arm movements, and side sliding, etc.  With ongoing opportunities to practice and participate in this game, educators can then later scaffold upon existing skills and interests to perhaps include additional movements, such as the children crouching down lower whilst working on the jousting board and then reaching up high with their arms extended or extending their arms in an outward position before jumping off the board.  So to we can begin to introduce new physical skills and concepts, again based upon the children's interests, such as hopping from port to starboard as the seas begin to get rougher, or scuttle like crabs over the rocks, etc.  We're only really limited by our own time constraints and imagination.  As stated previously this is a fantastic game that allows for both small and fairly large numbers of children. It can be as short or as long and involved as you like, dependent upon children's interests and attention spans. It allows children to scaffold upon the existing physical skills, including their locomotor skills, whilst becoming involved in decision making, as they can offer suggestion for possible movements they'd like included in the game.  Children who may lack confidence and self-esteem can participate equally, as they are not required to lead or previously know the rules and can easily follow others’ movements, thus allowing them to participate equally.  Educators at Short Street have found that with continued practice children will gradually gain control over their whole bodies and become aware of how to negotiate spaces and objects around them.  Last but not least, Captain's Coming is a fantastic, fun game to promote, scaffold and practice fundamental movement skills.