The Importance of Exercise for Young Children
Physical activity is crucial for our young people’s health, wellbeing and happiness.
Regular active play and exercise helps them build confidence while developing strength, coordination, and balance. These skills are important foundations for writing and schooling, sports and activities and developing a positive outlook on exercise and movement for life.
What are the UK Guidelines?
The National Health Service recommends:
2-3 year olds: 3 hours (180 minutes) of physical play spread over the course of the day.
3-4 year olds: 3 hours (180 minutes) of physical activity, including 1 hour of moderate to vigorous exercise.
5 + year olds: 60 minutes of moderate-vigorous intensity exercise each day.
This might sound like a tough target but there are lots of different ways to incorporate play and activities into family life!
Benefits of Exercise for Young Children and Toddlers
Active play helps pre-schoolers to develop ‘physical literacy’. Play in different environments enables your little ones to improve their coordination, agility, and balance, and improve their confidence. It helps them self-test their own abilities, and by taking on new challenges their skills gradually improve! Other benefits of active play are:
- Problem solving skills,
- Resilience
- Confidence
- Endorphin release
- Improved sleep
- Increased physical activity levels are also associated with high levels of emotional and social development.
Our physiotherapy team now offers fun Play-lates classes for your little ones. Please get in contact with our team today if you are interested!
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What Activities Count?
Children learn through play. Active play is how pre-schoolers exercise get the exercise they need to be happy, healthy and develop. Here are some ideas for active play for your little ones:
- Climbing
- Hide and seek
- Ball games
- Water play
- Races in the park
- Crawling
- Obstacle courses at home or outside
- Kicking and throwing a ball
- Hopping games like Hopscotch
- Dancing and movement songs
- Riding a balance bike or tricycle
- Scooting
- Paediatric Pilates!
Our physiotherapists run a weekly physical activity session designed for 2-5yr olds. Each activity is a carefully designed exercise to help children with a specific area of their physical development but they will be having too much fun to notice! And what is more is parents and carers are welcomed to join in too!
Would you like to read more?
You can find out more about the importance of physical play in children, and get more ideas of local activities on the links below:
Physical activity guidelines for children and young people – NHS
