Young children do not need to play sports. In fact, the AAP says most children under 6 have not developed the basic motor skills for organized sports. Instead, practice activities like running, swimming, throwing, and catching. These kinds of activities help children develop skills. 

Children 5 and under also have a shorter attention span. So, organized sports can be a challenge. Instead, encourage free play. Model new skills like throwing and catching so they can copy and try for themselves. Most of all, let them explore and learn! 

Below are basic skills children can practice through play. Choose activities that involve these new skills!

• Help your child understand spatial awareness. You can practice this by talking while playing. “Tiago is on top of the slide.”
  Another way to practice spatial awareness is to let your child crawl through a tunnel at the playground. If they can see both ends of the tunnel, they can understand where they are in the middle of it.
• Set up chairs in your home. Let them crawl over, under, around, and through. Can they squeeze in between two chairs? What if they put their arms out? Can they still make it through without touching?
• Create an obstacle course! In a hallway, tape string to both sides of the wall, making an obstacle to crawl through. The goal is to make it from one end to the other without knocking down the strings.

• To practice balance, have your child try to stand on one foot! Make a game of it. If your child is not able to do this yet, they can put the other foot on a ball or stool. Or, they can hold on to a wall or sturdy chair with one hand as they balance. Make sure they switch legs to practice balancing on both sides.
• Draw a line with chalk on the pavement. Or, put a long piece of painter’s tape on your floor. Have your child walk the line and try not to fall off. They can also do small hops on the line. Make two lines side by side. Let them jump from one to the other! 
• Have your child try to balance a beanbag on their head! See if they can walk around or dance without letting it fall.
  

• Safely crawling up and down stairs.
• Walking on tiptoes. You can practice this anywhere. Indoors, you could ask your child to walk on their tiptoes to get the hair brush. Outdoors, you could ask them to walk on their tiptoes to get their favorite toy.
• Running as fast as you can, then stopping suddenly.
• Kicking a ball.
• Rolling and throwing a ball.
• Hopping twice on one foot.
• Playing hopscotch on the pavement outside. Use chalk to draw the hopscotch board. Have your child practice jumping from one foot to both.

Model these skills for your child and have them copy you. These are just a few ideas! Experiment with other ways to move your body and have fun.

Did You Know?

Children are able to learn different skills at different ages. To learn more, take our Milestones Matter lesson series.