Movement Skills

Balance and Mobility

Between the ages of 5 and 12 years your child will strengthen the basic balance and mobility skills they have already developed. They continue to develop their skills in jumping, running, hopping, galloping, leaping, side stepping and skipping.

Most children learn to ride a bike by the time they are 12. For more information look at our learning to ride a bike section. Your child may also learn to swim with the right support. 

Skipping

Children learn to jump before they can hop or skip. Skipping is a difficult skill to learn. It involves the legs and arms performing different tasks at the same time. Rhythm and timing are really important. Some children find it easier to learn to skip on the spot while others find it easier to learn to skip on the move (like they are walking). Try both to see which your child finds easier.

Children learn best when they participate in activities that are just the right challenge, not too easy or too difficult. Below are some activities you can try. Do them in this order as this will make it easier. If your child easily achieves one task, move onto the next one.

Before your child can learn to skip they need to be able to:

• Jump/hop over a rope laid on the floor
• Hold and turn the rope
• Jump on the spot 10 times or hop from one foot to the other staying in the same place 10 times
• Move their arms and legs at the same time like doing star jumps
• Time their jump/hop – can they jump/hop in time with the beat? Use music with a strong beat.

Practice each of these steps individually before trying to co-ordinate them. Make sure you have lots of space. Practice outside if you can.

• Your child starts with the rope held in both hands so that it touches the ground behind them.
• Get them to lift their arms so the rope lifts up and swings against their legs. Do this 5-10 times.
• Get them to bring the rope up over their head so that it lands in front of them.
• Once they can do this they can start to jump or step over the rope. Go really slowly. Get them to wait for the rope to stop before they jump or step over it.
• Once your child has mastered this they can start to speed up. They could try skipping to music to help them find a rhythm.

Ball Skills

Ball skills continue to develop during the primary school years. By the time they are 12 they can throw a ball to a target, catch a small ball, dribble and kick to a target. They may enjoy team and individual sports like football, hockey, netball, basketball, rugby, tennis, etc.

If you child needs support in developing ball skills visit our ball skills section.

Physical Activity and Participation

It is recommended that all children take part in at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Your child will build on their basic skills to develop the skills they need for more complex physical and leisure activities. Your child might join in with organised sports activities like gymnastics, athletics, swimming, dancing and martial arts. As they continue to practice and join in their skills will improve and they will be able to complete multi step complex movement sequences. 

For more information visit our Physical Activity and Participation section.