Games support fundamental movement skills

This will make it more likely that children will engage in physical activity throughout their lives. In the early years, FMS is all about exposure to the skills, exploration, opportunity, guidance and most importantly - FUN! Here are a few ideas to get FMS happening at your service:.

For the preschool years there are 13 FMS. See the FMS Skills in action by clicking on the images below. These short videos show the key elements of each skill. A fundamental movement skills resource for pre-schoolers years containing game ideas for all skills. Use this fundamental movement skill handbook for practical activity and game ideas to help you creatively teach each fundamental movement skill to children aged years.

Download and print these fundamental movement skills posters to use as visual cues for the 13 fundamental movement skills. Download the activity pack and get started! To access more information and resources on Fundamental Movement Skills, visit the Healthy Kids website.

You may like to sing one new verse each day or week , and gradually build up to completing the full song. We want you to be able to use this resource any time of the year, and we appreciate some services and families do not celebrate Christmas, so standard versions of the action song lyric sheet and poster are also available.

Chasing games teach children to move their bodies in space effectively not bumping into people and objects as they move and improves their speed and reaction time. Simon Says is a fun game of following instructions that are usually movement based. One person is nominated to be Simon and must give instructions that the rest of the players must follow. Although this game primarily develops listening and attention skills, it is a great opportunity to build gross motor skills too. Here are some fun Simon Says ideas with a special section of commands that will work the larger muscles.

All you need is a piece of string laid on the floor or elevated slightly and tied to the legs of chairs. Young children enjoy symbolic play and you could even dress up for this one.

Lay some paper plates outside — fairly close together — and pretend to be frogs jumping on lily pads, or animals crossing the river by jumping over rocks. The simple act of being outside in the fresh air and running around in nature is a necessary movement activity. On a sheet of paper or cardboard, draw or paste pictures of objects found in nature and race around the garden or park looking for these items. Or, make a card with pictures of insects — like in the example below — and walk around the garden with your child finding as many of these creatures as you can.

A ladder is a great tool that can be used in a variety of ways. A jungle gym ladder that can be removed , rope ladder or regular household ladder can all be used. Lay the ladder flat on the grass and jump in between the rungs. Practise jumping on alternating legs and also hopping with two legs together, which is more challenging. Hopping and jumping are important milestones in physical development. Hula hooping is a fun activity your kids will thoroughly enjoy. Being able to swing a hula hoop around your hips is no easy skill so it will take a lot of practice.

Older preschoolers may be able to balance the hoop for a little while but you can still let younger preschoolers or toddlers play with the hoop to try the movement. When your kids build some skill, have a contest and see who can swing the hoop around their hips the longest. Do you have a jungle gym at home or at the park with a ladder your child can climb up? Why not tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, and act it out together. This will be an exciting variation on storytime and will help your child build strength and practise the skill of climbing.

Learning to skip is an important gross motor milestone for preschoolers. The best way to introduce this movement is by teaching your child to jump over a moving rope. Tie a rope to a chair or other post and, holding the other end, swing it slowly back and forth as your child jumps over it. Increase the height and speed as your child improves her skill.

When your child starts mastering the skill of jumping, use a skipping rope. Play a movement listening game that involves listening carefully to and remembering multiple instructions. Make up a series of silly instructions — such as jump up three times, run around the tree and hop back with feet together — and see if your child can do them in the correct sequence and remember them all.

Bean bags are found in every preschool, and for good reason. They are an excellent resource for practising motor skills and you can use them in multiple ways:.

Here are more bean bag activities to try. Have a long jump competition with your child. He recently dropped into Health and Wellbeing Queensland to share some tips for keeping kids active at home.

Cairney says that FMS are particularly important for children under 6 or 7 and to develop these you need to get kids comfortable doing lots of different activities. Watch the video below and check out these activities that you can play at home with your child to promote physical, social and cognitive development. Health and Wellbeing Queensland acknowledges the Traditional Owners and custodians of the lands from across Queensland.

We pay our respects to the Elders past and present for they are holders of the memories, traditions, the culture and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Queensland. Crafted by Evolut.