How you can nurture your child’s participation in sport and physical activity at home?

Ngunnawal Primary School recently secured funding from Sport Australia to run a variety of Sporting Schools programs including Tennis for our Kindergarten classes, Rugby Union for our Year 1 and 2 classes and Golf for our Year 3 classes.

Students were engaged and enjoyed participating in these programs. It was a great way for them to be active and find their 30 minutes of physical activity at school, however, while adults need 30 minutes of physical activity a day, children need 60. So, as well as finding 30 minutes at school, they need to be finding 30 at home.

Sport Australia has provided us with some useful information on how parents and carers can continue to nurture a child’s participation in sport and physical activity and find their 30 minutes at home.

Physical literacy provides the foundation for a lifelong connection to sport and physical activity. It is about developing the skills, knowledge and behaviours that give us the confidence and motivation to move more and lead an active, healthy life. You can help develop your child’s physical literacy by creating good habits with daily physical activity by increasing the opportunities for play-based activities at home. Entice your child/ren away from screen-time and teach them how to climb a tree, fly a kite, kick a footy or go for a bush walk together as a family. Encourage your child/ren to, help choose and plan the activities; set goals; and talk about how they feel while engaging in the activities. As a bonus, research has shown that children who are physically active achieve greater academic success and maintain higher attention levels during class at school.

See more examples of how you can support your child to develop their physical literacy and some activities you can do together as a family visit the website below.

https://www.sportaus.gov.au/findyour30/challenge

We can all develop our physical literacy at any stage of life, so why not do it together! Find a new sport or physical activity you can try with your family this term.

As a school community we also encourage active transport to school so walking or riding to and from school are some other great ways your children can be active and as a bonus you’ll be finding your 30 minutes and getting some physical activity too.

Sean Gourlay – Physical Education Teacher