Aquatic plyometric drills for children offer a promising avenue for promoting physical fitness and skill development. By following the guidelines recommended in this article, physical educators and coaches can ensure safe and effective implementation of these drills.

The preschool years are essential for developing physically active lifestyles and social-emotional well-being. This article introduces the PASS (Physical Activity and Social Skills) physical education program, which identifies specific ways to develop fundamental motor skills, provide physical activity opportunities, and promote social-emotional…

Recent findings from the Kids Activity and Learning Study complement North Carolina's multidimensional approach to promoting school readiness by emphasizing the integrated nature of motor and cognitive development in early childhood. Children whose motor skills improved the most over the course of an academic year also tended to demonstrate the…

Research has shown that children's levels of physical activity are set at an all-time low, which can lead to health problems such as obesity and diabetes. So, what can parents do to ensure that their child gets enough physical activity each day? This booklet answers that question and explains why the key to helping a child be more physically…

A review of Animal-Assisted Therapy and related terms such as "Animal-Assisted Activities" is presented as an introduction to the exploration of additional equine applications with children. Animal-Assisted Therapy has been studied, but Animal-Assisted Activities with children facing normal developmental struggles has not received much…

The purpose of the Early Childhood Essentials Framework is to synthesize and communicate the essential skills and competencies children should be acquiring before they enter kindergarten and the related skills and competencies early childhood educators must cultivate in order to provide high-quality early learning experiences that will set all…

"Game sense" is a sport-specific iteration of the teaching games for understanding model, designed to balance physical development of motor skill and fitness with the development of game understanding. Game sense can foster a shared vision for sport learning that bridges school physical education and community sport. This article explains how to…

School-ready children are children who are prepared to learn successfully in school. These children show growth over time in their physical, social and emotional, language, and cognitive development. They also show increasing interests in new experiences and in mastering new skills. Getting "school-ready" starts long before the weeks or…

Martial arts have recently gained the attention of physical educators as a viable activity in their physical education curriculum. However, physical education teachers may have difficulty teaching martial arts because they have little pedagogical content knowledge and no experience, and because they perceive martial arts to be dangerous and…

Being asked to give the Charles H. McCloy research lecture is one of the highlights of the author's academic career. Although McCloy's primary area of expertise was measurement and the analysis of motor skills, he also shared an avid interest in youth development through sport and physical activity. In this article, the author features youth sport…

This article discusses children's physical development through physical play. Here, the author gives ways to incorporate opportunities for physical play. For infants, time for play may have to revolve around nap schedules. This may mean allowing for different wake-sleep cycles for different infants. Teachers can divide the infants into groups so…

Children grow and develop physically according to their own experiences, characteristics, and abilities. Physical development is so important and the environment should allow each child to find her space in the sunshine. This can be done by: (1) creating the right outdoor environment; (2) allowing children time to use it; (3) encouraging movement…

A model is proposed for the development of planning strategies in which both task demands and learners' needs are integrated with the general needs of the typical developing child. Five variables are considered in designing lesson plans: (1) physical prerequisites; (2) hierarchical organization; (3) perceptual processes; (4) sources of feedback;…

This article features activities for children to explore the concepts of "over" and "under." Using boxes and blocks, children explore positional relationships and develop physical skills. Here, the author offers activities for every age level.

Describes physical and motor development characteristics of children from early childhood to adolescence, and discusses theories of motor skill development with practical applications for parents and teachers. The final section discusses declining fitness levels in children and ways to improve fitness in school-age children. (SLD)