Learning Through Movement Skills - Ideas
Overview
We need to move it, move it! Encourage your child to move with big and little movements, on different surfaces and heights, exploring different environments and playing games. Children with good physical skills can control their bodies in different tasks.
We need strength and balance to control our bodies.
Children are faced with many tasks which require them to have good coordination and balance, helping them feel comfortable managing themselves and their belongings. Developing skills using their legs, arms, hands and fingers will help them complete day-to-day activities with control and strength.
Children who are involved in imaginative play are learning.
Children use their muscles and senses to help them regulate themselves, identify and control their emotions. They need to be able to move carefully in different ways in different spaces, attaching words and feelings to movements. Their play fosters creativity and social skills.
Learning Through Movement key Areas
Hold small things
Balance with good core strength
Balance with good core strength
Help your child build their hand muscles by providing drawing and cutting activities, puzzles, water pouring, play-dough and clay, threading large beads and hammering activities, etc. Your child doesn’t need to be able to write before they come to school, but they do need to have the fine motor strength to hold a pencil and other small things. We have identified 11 goals in this learning area.
Balance with good core strength
Balance with good core strength
Balance with good core strength
Children with good balance are able to control their body's position, whether they are still or moving. Balancing activities increase a child's endurance, flexibility and core strength.
Children must learn to balance, such as transferring their weight from one leg to the other, before they can progress to higher level gross motor skills like climbing stairs, hopping, galloping or skipping. We have identified 10 goals in this learning area.
Move carefully in my space
Balance with good core strength
Move carefully in my space
As children become more aware of their bodies and increase control of their movements, they need to be aware of the space around them. They will learn that their bigger movements will need a bigger space, things happen behind them as well as in front of them and that their action can impact on other things in their space. They need to adjust their movement to the size of the space they’re moving in. We have identified 10 goals in this learning area.
Play with imagination
Coordinate my eyes, hands and fingers
Move carefully in my space
Imaginative play with others provides a great opportunity for children to explore and challenge their body’s capabilities and use their social skills. It boosts development of problem solving and self-regulation skills. Children tend to be highly motivated to follow rules and can at times act out more mature roles. This helps them grow in their ability to inhibit their impulses, coordinate with others and make plans. We have identified 9 goals in this learning area.
Manage myself and my belongings
Coordinate my eyes, hands and fingers
Coordinate my eyes, hands and fingers
There are many situations at school where children are expected to be comfortable handling their bags and personal items. Children need to be able to manipulate the many small features on their belongings, such as zips, laces, buttons, drink bottle tops. Developing a child’s fine motor skills will help them manage themselves and look after their belongings with greater skill and independence.
We have identified 15 goals in this learning area.
Coordinate my eyes, hands and fingers
Coordinate my eyes, hands and fingers
Coordinate my eyes, hands and fingers
Coordination is when you use the information that your eyes see to guide your hands to carry out a movement, such as in writing or catching a ball. Children need to be able to visually track an object and control the movement of their body parts with the correct amount of force, to be successful. Encouraging them to practise activities with eye-hand coordination will make it easier.
We have identified 13 goals in this learning area.