As adults, there are many skills we take for granted and assume we have always ‘known’ how do. We can catch, throw, jump, jump, skip, hop and run all without thinking too much about it but what we have forgotten is that at some stage or other in our lives we did actually learn these skills!
A high level of fundamental movement skill competence in childhood leads to a number of positive health and physical outcomes. Children who possess high FMS levels have a greater chance of maintaining good health, are more likely to participate in physical activity and possess better fitness in later life. The younger we can teach these skills to our children, the better.
As childhood obesity grips the nation, and children are becoming less and less active, these fundamental skills, which were once learned incidentally, are being mastered by fewer and fewer children,
This is resulting in a generation of youth who do not have the basic skills required to feel competent to take part in sports and are therefore shying away from them completely.
It is essential to introduce your kids to these skills from an early age and give them the confidence to execute them. Take it back to basics. Run in the garden, play with the ball, climb rocks at the beach, create obstacle courses in the sitting room, play hopscotch, skip with a rope… but most importantly, keep it fun! You don’t need to expect your child to become a competent sports person overnight, you simply want to equip them with the basic skills to allow them to develop their interest in sports and fitness as they grow.