There are 40+ Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) that children need to master by the time they leave primary school. FMS are divided into three areas: locomotor skills; Manipulative skills; and Non-Locomotor skills.
Current Issues In Primary Schools
In primary schools, research by the University of South Wales has shown that those typically teaching PE and FMS are not trained movement specialists. They lack confidence and don’t see the importance compared to other essential curriculum areas. We must do all we can to help our little ones develop their FMS in the early years.
Imagine reaching Primary School and discovering you can’t play! If you can’t run, catch or throw, you can’t join in activities that require the FMS to participate.
The Role Of Early Years Educators
From birth, the myelination process begins. The first 5 years are the most important. Every experience the child has, from sensory to physical, will trigger the myelination process in the brain. The more access your little ones have to physical experiences, and repeated muscle movements, the more myelin forms around the neurons.
Techniques For Developing Fundamental Movement Skills
Once this concept is understood, it becomes easier to help children develop their Fundamental Movement Skills through the “chunk it up,” “slow it down,” and “repeat” system. This gives you the outcome of what is also known as “muscle memory,” or “automaticity”. It is in fact, the myelination of the neurons in the brain. Movements from walking to picking up an object happen without having to use conscious thoughts.
Encourage them to repeat activities by being creative, so they enjoy it. When they enjoy activities, their brain rewards them with positive feelings. When their brain has had enough, it will want to do something else.
As early years educators, it is our role to work with and cooperate with their brains, by finding and creating playful ways for them to enjoy the activity again, and again, and again!
Challenges And Considerations
An important note… try not to repeat yourself and let it become boring and they stop engaging in the activity. Your ability to be creative and imaginative is so important.
If they struggle with a movement, even when you have “chunked it up”, and “slowed it down”, remember that the brain can only take a couple of corrections at a time and your little ones’ memory skills are related to their ages.
Their memory skills impact their Fundamental Movement Skills. These skills develop from the brain, into the larger muscle groups, and onto their fine motor skills. This is the “top-down” process, which also includes the vestibular system.
When assessing your little ones, ask yourself whether they have the physical strength and balance to develop their Fundamental Movement Skills. Are they ready? Do they have any gaps in their development?
To balance and develop their skills, they need core muscle strength for balance. This is the stable base for the rest of the body, the “inside out”.
When you see your little ones wobbling or plopping, their brain is discovering balance along with the core muscles engaging and helping them to develop strength. Propping them up doesn’t help them. It can slow their natural development process.
Falling and wobbling is a great lesson for the brain. It starts to identify what muscles are needed to balance and where upright is. This is the “top-down” to go with the “inside out”.
Practical Movement Activities
While we facilitate fun, and engaging, activities to develop their fundamental movement skills, it is vital that we model (demonstrate), and verbalise the movements correctly.
This is important for many reasons as your little learners could be visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic learners. There is the school of thought that all children start as kinaesthetic learners which shows how important it is for them to see the movement to copy you and then explore what it feels like.
Questions To Ask yourself
Are they struggling with specific movement skills?
- Are there gaps in their development process?
- What activity will help them build competency in that movement skill?
- Are you modelling movements correctly for the little ones?
- Are you being creative and imaginative with as many physical activities as possible?
Movement Activity Ideas
- Join the Littlemagictrain and take a journey to the Amazon and the children can take turns wearing the train driver’s hat.
- Go through tunnels (crawling), and travel across bridges (tiptoeing). Go off the tracks (rolling) down a hill. And anything else that you encounter on the way.
- Join the frogs as they hop across the pond on rocks to find yummy frog snacks.
- Develop from all 4s (hands and feet) to 2 legs.
- Stepping over and under the spider’s web. Don’t wake the spider up!
- Develop from crawling underneath to stepping over the web. They could also tiptoe across the web (rope or gym bench) and jump off at the end.
- Find a way to get past a sleeping jaguar blocking the path out of the Amazon.
- Tiptoeing, running, jumping over him. You can develop their jumping from 2-2 feet, 2-1 foot, and 1-1 foot as they leap.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the development of Fundamental Movement Skills in the early years is critical for ALL children’s overall growth and ability to participate in various physical activities from playing with friends to PE in primary school.
All Early Years Educators play a vital role in fostering these skills through creative, repetitive, and enjoyable activities that help them develop these core developmental skills. This not only prepares them for Primary School but, contributes to their well-being, and physical health.
By understanding the importance of incorporating playful, engaging methods, you can ensure that your little ones develop the necessary physical competencies (physical literacy). Adapt your approach to ensure all your little ones are engaged as you encourage a lifelong love for being active. Don’t forget you are their role model!
