Let’s Talk About Physical Literacy!
By Rayn Perry, B. Kin,
We know that regular physical activity is critical for achieving and maintaining optimal health and can protect against many adverse health outcomes. In this week's blog post we will define and discuss Physical Literacy — a critical concept for the promotion of life-long healthy physical activity habits. We will also provide ideas, and resources to help you facilitate the development of physical literacy in your children this summer!
Physical Literacy Is:
● The development of fundamental movement skills that permit a child to move confidently and with control, in a wide range of physical activity, rhythmic (dance) and sport situations.
● The competence to perform movement skills and the knowledge, motivation, confidence, and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activity across the lifespan.
The Importance of Physical Literacy
Just like children need intentional practice to learn how to read and write, children need intentional practice to develop fundamental movement skills (see list below). Fundamental movement skills are critical in motivating children to engage in physical activity, preventing accidental injuries (eg: trips, falls, drowning) and have even been linked to other measures of well-being including resilience (Jefferies et al., 2019).
Inactivity among children continues to rise and threaten the health of Canadians. In previous blogs we have outlined the importance of physical activity and referenced Canada’s 24hour movement guidelines as an important resource to check out! Physical literacy gives children the tools and motivation they need to engage in healthy physical activity habits. Unfortunately, Canadian sport organizations continue to express concern that many children who enter programs lack basic movement skills.
Research findings on the benefits and importance of physical literacy have prompted it to become a key focus in many school PE and early childhood sport programs. However, parents and care-givers of young children still have a huge role to play in physical literacy development—especially during the summer! As care-givers, we can truly benefit children's future health and wellness by facilitating the development of their physical literacy.
A List of Fundamental Movement Skills and the Optimal Age to Teach/Practice Them From Developing Physical Literacy document by Canadian Sport for Life
(See References below to access more information)
Want to Learn More?
PHE Canada and Canadian Sport for Life have many great resources on physical literacy:
● https://phecanada.ca/activate/physical-literacy
● https://phecanada.ca/activate/physical-literacy/information-parents
Ideas for Improving Your Child’s Physical Literacy This Summer
● Play Catch or Frisbee!
○ Use different ball/object sizes and types—depending on your child's age and ability—to keep it challenging but do-able and fun (:
○ Add various rules to add challenges. Get creative! Remember it should be all about fun—kids don’t need to know they are practicing catching and throwing.
■ Example for young children: play with family and friends so there are multiple players and you have to say the person's name who you are throwing to and they must catch it. (My cousins and I played this elimination style for HOURS and LOVED it when we were ~6 yrs old.)
■ Example for older children: Play catch in a pool, see how many times you can throw the ball without it hitting the water etc.
● Any Balance Activity
○ Many playgrounds have balance-focused equipment!
■ Give your kids balance challenges:
● Example: how long can you stand on the beam, how many times can you walk back and forth on the stepping stones without falling, can you walk like a ___(animal) on the balance equipment etc.
● Adjust to age and ability levels.
○ Family Bike rides!
● Dance/Gymnastics Challenges
○ Challenge your children and their friends/siblings to create dance/gymnastics routines together to show you.
■ You can have them watch a gymnastics/dance/cheerleading movie to give them ideas and/or get them excited about it first.
■ If there are enough children, do a contest—Kids love contests.
■ Tell kids they get extra points for adding certain balance/jumping/spinning/running skills or components.
● **SWIMMING LESSONS**
○ Swimming is a great physical activity, there are various opportunities for lessons all around Lethbridge and in surrounding towns.
○ Swimming is an essential movement and safety skill!
● Summer Camps!
○ Below is a list of some active summer camps/events offered in Lethbridge that will be sure to improve children’s physical literacy.
Summer Camps List
FREE Give It A Try Events All Ages
https://lethbridgesportcouncil.ca/events/sasg/give-it-a-try
FREE Roving Gyms ages 5 and under
Purpose is to improve physical literacy
https://lethbridgesportcouncil.ca/programs/roving-gyms#program-overview
City of Lethbridge Big Bird Little Bird & Trailblazers Ages 2-10.
$10-$20, explore the Lethbridge outdoors with your children for an hour twice a week!
https://www.lethbridge.ca/Things-To-Do/Nature-Centre/Pages/Kids-Programs.aspx
YMCA – Summer Sport Day Camps Ages 7-15
https://lethbridgeymca.ca/programs/111/sport-camps/#division_1212
LC Sport Camps Ages 4-18
Mountain Biking (Ages 4-14), Dance (ages 6-14), Volleyball & Basketball (Ages 9-18)
https://lethbridgecollege.ca/summercamps
Lethbridge Gymnastics Academy Camps Ages 4-12
Variety of camp types and activities! ** Gymnastics is amazing for developing physical literacy and lifelong athleticism.
https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/lethbridgegymnastics/camps/1
Westwind Gymnastics Summer Camps Ages 4-13
Variety of camp options!
https://westwindgym.com/day-camps/
Summer FC Ages 3-8
Soccer Skills Development
University of Lethbridge MultSpot Camp Ages 6-12
A week long camp Variety of activities including games, arts crafts and many sports and physical activities.
University of Lethbridge Sport Camps Ages 6-16
Week long camps for a variety of specific activities (Badminton, Fencing, Basketball, Rock Climbing, Outdoor Adventures, Swimming, Mountain biking, Soccer, Multi-Activity Camp)
Coulee Climbing Camps Ages 5-15
Various options for kids to learn rock climbing techniques and have fun!
https://www.couleeclimbing.com/youth-programs
References:
Jefferies, P., Ungar, M., Aubertin, P., & Kriellaars, D. (2019). Physical literacy and resilience in children and youth. Frontiers in Public Health, 7(346), 1-7. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00346
All Images, tables, and uncited information was retrieved from Canadian Sport for Life’s document Developing Physical Literacy: A Guide For Parents Of Children Ages 0 to12.
This document is an excellent resource and can be downloaded here