In terms of learning to move we need to ensure children learn all 38 motor skills, to the best of their ability, whether or not we think they are going to be the next star of Wimbledon, and these skills must be taught. There can be a view that under sevens don’t really need to be taught motor skills. They do.
Moving to learn
Having been clear that the body needs to learn how to move as fully as it can, the second consideration for teachers is to appreciate that moving and developing physically enables other learning. Mind and body are inextricably linked. In the UK, Ofsted’s recent early years report (2024) argues that: “Children who are more physically active in the early years are better at regulating their emotions and achieve better in primary school” (Ofsted 2024)
For young children learning (whether it be emotional, social, linguistic or cognitive) through moving is absolutely critical to their development. Take, for example, a child building a line of crates and then standing at the end saying ‘isn’t that long?’ The child is taking the concept of length and making sense of it through the action of manoeuvring the crates. They feel to then understand.