31 March 2020

Right now many parents are - or will be shortly - keeping their children home from school due to the impact and protective measures put in place to reduce the impact of covid-19. Parents are facing the prospect of also wearing the teacher and coach hat for the foreseeable future. Whilst this may be a daunting prospect for some, KIDDO are here to help. 

KIDDO remains focused on our mission to get all children 'moving well and moving often'. Just like learning to read and write, children also need to learn how to move. To ensure this can happen, KIDDO have developed a range of free at-home resources for parents, carers and teachers to engage in physical activity and fundamental movement skill development with their children, wherever they may be. 

Children not only need to develop movement skills, but also the confidence to move and knowledge of the skills. Parents can encourage the development of knowledge by checking out our KIDDO teaching cues for each skill under the skill section of the website.

In the early childhood years learning how to run, jump, catch and throw through active play is just as important as teaching and instruction. A powerful and effective tool to use during play time to encourage active play and the development of skills is PROMPTING. As your child is playing, ask questions, join in, let them teach you the skills. This will help your child develop the skills and confidence to be active.

Try focusing on different skills each week, one week have a selection of balls, balloons or rolled up socks available around your house. Let your child discover and engage with them. At times throughout the day join in and try using some of the prompts below. The next week put out different equipment/household items and focus on a different skill such as jumping –  have a go with our jumping prompts.

One way parents can develop their children’s confidence is through prompting children during play. Prompting is a powerful and effective tool to keep children engaged in an activity. Check out our guided free play prompt resource below. You can also make your prompts specific to the skill you are focusing on in your activity.