Physical Activity for all ages
Physical activity starts at an early age. Babies take pleasure from discovering and then controlling their own movements. They delight in realising they can get themselves from one place to another, first by crawling and later by walking and they relish practising and polishing their newly developing skills.
Physical Activity Recommendations for Infants
While there are no specific activity requirements for infants this is an important stage for motor development.
- At this age children explore and learn to use their body parts. Providing a variety of appropriate toys for a baby will assist in body awareness and movement.
- Infants can learn to recognise, explore and control objects, sights, sounds and textures. Try to ensure that toys stimulate all the senses i.e. touch, sound, sight, smell and movement.
- It is normal for babies to investigate the world by putting things into their mouths. This is an important developmental stage so parents need to be vigilant in ensuring that toys given to babies are washable, non-toxic and non-breakable. Anything that will fit into a small film canister is small enough to choke a child under three
- Babies learn how to get desired reactions from objects, so ensure some toys are interactive or reactive to the infant’s body movements whilst still ensuring they are safe for babies to use. Small children delight in being the cause! It is an empowering experience for them. Toys that rattle and squeak are popular as are toys that move in response to the baby’s actions.
- Note: A baby walker may seem as if it fulfils these criteria but baby walkers are not considered safe for young children.
Physical Activity Recommendations for Babies on the Move
As children further develop their motor skills they begin to crawl and walk. It is advised that toddlers exercise for at least 60 minutes per day with half of this time made up of planned physical activity. As children of this age are naturally active little beings, this is not as difficult a task as it might seem. Try to include many different forms of movement and positively reinforce children’s every effort.
- Focus on developing basic motor skills such as walking, jumping and rolling and stopping a big ball. (Throwing and catching will develop a little later). Blow up beach balls are often easier for very young children to handle. (Balloons may be fun to play with and move slowly making them easier for children to handle, but must be used with extreme care as burst balloons can cause choking and suffocation. Blow up beach balls have most of the advantages of balloons without the dangers.)
- Mobility can be promoted by providing lots of opportunities for children to move. Encourage young children to crawl or toddle to their destination both inside the house and in the garden.
- The Wiggles’ songs and dances provide other opportunities for children of this age group to be actively engaged.
- Toddlers are interested in how to use new objects, so look for objects and equipment that encourage active play.
- At this age children are expanding their understanding of object permanence so games including hide-and-seek are great fun and provide experiences that encourage skills of problem solving.
- Make-believe play is wonderful for toddlers to experience and helps them to understand many of the daily activities they see grown-ups do.
Physical Activity Recommendations for Preschoolers
Preschool children are developing their basic motor skills and can benefit from opportunities to practise these skills. Research suggests that preschool aged children need two hours of physical activity per day with one hour devoted to planned activities and one hour made up of unstructured physical play.
- Preschoolers are beginning to explore relationships between objects and how parts and wholes fit together, so try activities such as building cubby houses out of boxes.
- This is a great time to develop the ability to play with other children. Go to the local park or swimming pool, organise play dates or enrol in organised physical activities that focus in this age group. (Before enrolling any child in such an activity make sure you are happy with the activities in which children will be engaged and of the approach taken by the instructor or coach.)
- Both large and small motor skills develop during this stage. Physical activities should include both. Practising simple sports skills have been found to increase the likelihood of children participating in sports at a later date whereas children with poor basic skills are more likely to avoid sport. Balancing, jumping, kicking, throwing and catching balls, hitting a ball or other object with a bat, throwing something like a ball or a bean bag towards a target are all fun activities that young children will enjoy.
- Children thrive on routine and are learning how to plan ahead. Introduce a structured sporting activity that children can plan towards and look forward to each week.
Physical Activity Recommendations for School aged (5+ year olds)
A combination of moderate and vigorous activities for at least 60 minutes a day is recommended. However, more is better and up to several hours of activity each day is not a problem. This can be broken into short bursts of 10 to 15 minutes, so ensure children have lots of opportunities to get moving.
- Moderate intensity activities can include a brisk walk, a bike ride or any sort of active play.
- More vigorous activities will make children ‘huff and puff’ and include organised sports such as soccer and fitness classes, as well as activities such as dancing, gymnastics, running and swimming laps for older children.
- Children typically accumulate activity in intermittent bursts ranging from a few seconds to several minutes, so any sort of active play will usually include some vigorous activity.
- Yoga for children. This is a great way to help children strengthen their muscles and improve their flexibility.
- While many sporting teams enrol children in the late preschool/early school years, not all children enjoy or are ready for such activities. Be guided by children’s interests and abilities. While for some children finding a passion in sport can be one of easiest ways for maintaining exercise throughout childhood and adolescence and into adulthood this may not suit all children. Organised sport and other structured activities are not the only way to engage in physical activities.
- Take advantage of children’s interests and skills. There is some evidence to suggest that children are more likely to participate in physical activity throughout childhood and into adulthood when they enjoy what they do.
- When children do show an interest in team sports such involvement provides real opportunities to learn group and interpersonal skills such as cooperation and conflict resolution.
- School aged children are also developing competence in following rules designed by others as well as creating their own rules to follow with peers.
