Spring Physical Skills

There is an array of physical skills that young children need to learn and develop through free movement and instruction time.  Most skills will not be performed with control in the early years, however the more opportunity children have to try and master the skills the easier they will find more complex games and sports when they are older.

Every few months we will focus on a number of physical skills.  Children will develop other skills, however the focus skills will be the basis for planning and support.

Depending on your children’s abilities you can either focus purely on the fundamental movement skills or focus on all the skills.   The full list of skills are aimed at children in foundation stage, however you may find that some older children have not had sufficient opportunity to develop these skills when they were younger.

It is better to help children develop at a younger level than try to force them to keep up with their peers if they are not capable.  They will develop faster and be more likely to catch up.

Download Skill Progression & Travel

The physical skills are divided into 4 categories:

Movement
Static
Fine Motor
Descriptive
 

Underpinning Movement:

Balance
Coordination
Spatial Awareness
Agility
Incorporating the skills into your planning

EY Physical Skills – Spring

Each week select:

2x Movement skill
1x Static, Descriptor or Fine Motor skill


 
Enhancing Phyiscal Development

Plan PE lessons and daily activities around these skills and outcomes you would like the children to achieve.
 
Allow for repetition of skills both during instruction time and child initiated play.  

Place a flashcard of the skills in the outdoor area, send the skills home or incorporate them in other lessons.
 

We will be focussing on the following skills during Spring Term

Movement

Bouncing

Catching

Changing Direction

Chasing

Climbing

Combining Movements

Creeping

Dancing / Movement to music / Rhythm

Digging

Dodging

Dribbling

Evading

Galloping

Hanging

Hitting

Hopping

Jumping

Movement

Kicking

Landing

Leaping

Lifting

Marching

Rolling (body)

Running

Shuffling

Skipping

Sliding

Slither

Squatting

Stacking

Striking

Tapping

Throwing

Twisting

Volley

Static

Aiming

Gesturing

Handling

Hiding

Matching

Pivoting

Reaching

Rotating

Scoring

Shooting

Standing

Fine Motor

Cutting

Writing

Painting

Drawing

Grasping

Squeezing

Pointing

Pressing

Prodding

Stacking

 

Descriptor

Avoiding

Directional/Positional

Distance

Flow

Height

Pathway

Predicting

Reacting

Speed

Splashing

Weight

Downloads

For further support to develop children’s physical skills please see the information sheets:

Skill Flashcards (click to download)
Print off the Flashcards, separate each one by cutting on the line and laminate them for use in lessons, around the class and in your outdoor area.  Where there are no pictures, add your own by taking photographs of your children as they will identify better with the picture.

Skill Information (click to download)

Fundamental Movement Skills (click to download)

Physical Skills (click to download)