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Parenting Tip of the Month
Playing sports harnesses the high energy and playfulness of children into activities that grow their minds and bodies. The more children become skilled in the fundamental movement skills, the more successful they will be in sports. Around age seven is when children begin to refine their fundamental movement skills to be able to play sports with others. Read more to learn about these important skills and how you can help your child in their development.
Fundamental Movement Skills
Infants For the first few months of life, infants are in the reflexive movement phase. Once they learn to sit up, let go of objects and take their first steps, they are in the rudimentary movement phase.
Toddlers & Preschoolers
The fundamental movement phase begins around age two and continues for the next several years. Fundamental movement skills are the building blocks of all movements. If we teach children the fundamentals, they have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of physical activity in different sports throughout their lives. Fundamental movement skills can be sorted into three categories: Locomotor, Object Control and Stability. Check out the video links below that show how to teach these skills.
Locomotor skills are skills used to move from place to another, such as:
Object control skills are the movements used to move objects in a controlled manner, such as:
Stability movements are the skills that help us keep our balance while changing positions. Examples include: twisting, bending, swinging, stretching, lifting and walking a balance beam. Below are two videos showing fun games to help children grow these skills:
If you need more ideas to interact with your little ones, check out Vroom! Vroom is a free app that you can download on your phone that provides activities aimed at children five and under. Once you put in your child’s age, you will have access to different activities that will grow with them as they age! Example:
References and Links
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Past Parenting Tips
Past Tips 2024:
- April 2024 - Sports!
- March 2024 - Youth Art Month
- February 2024 - Cabin Fever Solutions
- January 2024 - Developmental Milestones
2023:
- December 2023 - Time to Bundle Up!
- November 2023 - Kansas Reads to Preschoolers
- October 2023 - ABC's of Sleep
- September 2023 - Children and Biting
- August 2023 - Make a Connection
- July 2023 - Safety While Out & About
- June 2023 - Let's Play
- May 2023 - Child Care Provider Appreciation Day
- April 2023 - Gentle Hands
- March 2023 - Fussy Eaters
- February 2023 - Let's Read Together!
- January 2023 - Baby Sign Language