Resources

Learning movement skills occurs through the interactions of children and the world around them (e.g., with others, in the classroom, outdoors, at the playground). Instead of learning fundamental movement skills in isolation, we believe and advocate for the integration of movement with all aspects of a child's life. Educators become facilitators of movement where children are guided to explore and discover creative and functional movement solutions through play and physical activities.

The video below depicts a typical day in the life of three children as they take part in various integrated movement activities to stay active. We hope this video will inspire educators to create learning environments for children to be active throughout the day.

There are broadly two categories of movement strategies that educators can adopt integrate movement throughout the children's day, within the preschool settings and outdoors:

• Self-directed movement strategies

  Strategies that involve creating learning environments and opportunities that grant children the autonomy to explore movement independently, fostering their ability of “learning to move”. They provide children with the physical environment to explore movement at their own pace. Self-directed strategies can include creating spaces like Active Navigation Routes (ANR) or Active Play Corners (APC) that encourage children to move and play freely. 

• Directed movement strategies

  Strategies involving activities that are facilitated by an educator and can often be integrated into curriculum time. As movement has been shown to improve attention and cognitive function, these strategies enhance children’s capacity to learn academically and thus reinforce the concept of “moving to learn”. These practical strategies, including activities such as Brain Breaks and Integrated Learning, are specifically designed to enable educators to incorporate movement into classroom routines without compromising teaching time.

Check out the following movement strategies, with real-life examples from our community partners, that educators may adopt, get creative with, and recreate right at their own preschools: