“KIDDO has been the highlight for the children and the educators each week”
KIDDO has not only helped the children at Goodstart Nollamara to learn how to run, jump, balance and catch but also develop a love of being outdoors and being active.
The centre’s Educators also benefit from the KIDDO program through a Train the Trainer approach, where the Educators work with the KIDDO instructors for 4 weeks to gain the skills and confidence to introduce the children to the fundamental movement skills through a combination of play-based learning and fun, age appropriate activities.
Centre Director Kylee Rangirangi believes the KIDDO website will be a great tool for Educators to tap into and build on the learning from the KIDDO sessions and deliver and develop their own programs on an ongoing basis.
The KIDDO team worked with the Educators and children aged 3+ years at Goodstart Early Learning Centre in Nollamara over a five week period. This in-centre program provided an excellent professional development opportunity for the Educators as well as introducing children to fun, age appropriate fundamental movement skill development activities.
“The kids have really enjoyed it they all been very engaged with the games and have definitely benefitted from the program. KIDDO is great because everyone gets to be involved and we see the children continuing the games and activities they have learnt throughout the rest of the week. We look forward to our Educators using the skills they have developed to continue to deliver the program,” she said.
KIDDO’s dual focus on working with both the children and staff in each Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centre is unique and allows the benefits of the program to continue long after the 5 sessions.
Why is KIDDO important you ask?
There is strong evidence about the importance of physical activity and the development of fundamental movement skills (run, jump, throw, catch etc.) in young children. Once a child has developed these skills they can participate in most physical activities with confidence, this is called Physical Literacy. Physical literacy comes from developing a wide variety of movement skills such as running, hopping, jumping, balance, throwing & catching.
Physically literate kids:
- Have a lot more fun being active
- Have better social skills
- Are happier & more confident
- Improved attention & concentration levels
We can’t wait to introduce KIDDO to our next ECEC centre, Goodstart Early Learning in Welshpool starting next week.
For further information about the programs we offer to ECEC services please contact us.