- 1. Physical Literacy and The Early Years: Supporting Healthy
Active ChildrenDawne Clark, PhD Mount Royal UniversityOPHEA Webinar
January 22, 2014
2. What is physical activity? Physical activity is any movement
that: requires energy increases heart rate increases breathing 3.
What is physical literacy? Physical Literacy means moving with:
motivation confidence competence Being physically active for life!
4. Why are physical activity and physical literacy so important in
the early years? The structure of the brain developed in the first
five years sets the trajectory for the rest of life: health,
learning, success, relationships 5. Brains arent just born; they
are builtNurturing Nature 6. Neurons the building blocks 7.
Synapses the connections 8. Building involves Connecting and
Pruning 9. How do we help to build strong brains? The core story of
early brain development Building a brain is like building a house.
A strong house that will last a lifetime starts with a sturdy level
foundation four solid walls 10. The sturdy foundation A safe
nurturing supportive environment Family Caring Relationships Safe
Community Education Food Security Physical Activity Freedom from
Abuse and Neglect 11. Four walls: Four developmental
domainsEmotionalSocialPhysicalCognitive 12. Often adults focus on
only three of the developmental walls Cognitive speak, read, write,
and count think through situations, plan ahead, and solve problems
Emotional understand emotions and express them in acceptable ways
Social make friends, share, and play with others learn self-control
and be able to deal with distractions 13. because they believe that
children are naturally active. But 35% of two to five year old
children in Canada are overweight or obese Several Canadian studies
indicate that young children are inactive for more than three
quarters of their waking day In Canada, approximately 70% of
preschool children spend up to 10 hours a day in non-parental group
care 14. Why physical activity and literacy? Physical growth and
health Healthy body, heart, and weight Small muscle control draw,
print Large muscle control run, jump, kick Physical capacities
Coordination, posture, balance Strength, agility, endurance,
flexibility Overall health and well-being Reduces anxiety, stress
Promotes healthy lifestyle choices increases positive sense of self
(mental health) 15. Cant build alone: Relationships 16. Keeping
Organized: Executive Function Air Traffic Controller skills: Focus,
attention Emotional regulation Plan ahead Follow rules Important
skills that enable a child to learn 17. Types of Stress Positive
stress Transitions, new people Builds resilience & ability to
copeTolerable stress Car accident, illness, natural disaster
Mediated by supportive nurturing relationshipsToxic stress Chronic,
severe, long lasting Lack of supportive relationships 18. Impact of
Toxic Stress Actually built into the structure of the brain Leads
to challenges over the life span Difficult behaviours Inability to
concentrate and learn Poor social relationships Health concerns
such as heart disease, respiratory problems, obesity, diabetes,
addictions 19. Hope: Our Plastic Brain Throughout life, a house can
be added to, strengthened, made more comfortable Our brains are
plastic and can also be repaired More expensive, harder, less
effective than doing it right the first time 20. How Brains are
Built http://www.albertafamilywellness.org/resou
rces/video/how-brains-are-built-core-storybrain-development 21.
APPLE Model: Active Play and Physical Literacy Everyday! 22. Active
Play and Physical Literacy We do it already! Active PlayPhysical
Literacy Curiosity Motivation Exploration Repetition to mastery
Confidence Confidence Competence 23. Physical Activity for birth4
yrs CSEP Guidelines Infants (less than 1 year) physically active
several times daily through interactive floor-based play Toddlers
(1-2 yrs) & preschoolers (3-4 yrs) at least 180 minutes of
physical activity at any intensity spread throughout the day 24.
Sedentary Behaviour for birth-4 yrs CSEP Guidelines Minimize
prolonged sitting or being restrained (e.g., stroller, high chair)
no more than one hour at a time For those under 2 years, screen
time (e.g., TV, computer, electronic games) is not recommended. For
children 24 years, screen time should be limited to under one hour
per day; less is better. 25. Our Responsibility We all need to help
build our childrens brains Attend to all four developmental domains
Provide a range of positive experiences Ensure all children have
caring, positive, loving relationships Create nurturing supportive
environments This is the only brain a child will ever have. It has
to last a lifetime! 26. Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology
Guidelines Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for the early
years 0-4
www.csep.ca/CMFiles/Guidelines/CSEP-InfoSheets-early-years-ENG.pdf
Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for children 5-11
www.csep.ca/CMFiles/Guidelines/CSEP-InfoSheets-child-ENG.pdf
Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for the early years 0-4
www.csep.ca/CMFiles/Guidelines/CSEP-InfoSheets-ENG-Early-Years-FINAL.pdf
Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for children 5-11
www.csep.ca/CMFiles/Guidelines/CSEP-InfoSheets-ENG-Children%20FINAL.pdf
27. Resources A Hop, Skip and Jump: Enhancing Physical Literacy
(2nd Ed). Available for purchase: www.mtroyal.ca/bookstoreActive
for Life activeforlife.com Active Start: the importance of physical
activity in the first six years of life [6 videos]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSez5rKfHko Alberta Family Wellness
Initiative www.albertafamilywellness.org Canadian Physical Activity
and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines Handbook
www.csep.ca/CMFiles/Guidelines/CSEP-Guidelines-Handbook.pdf
Canadian Sport for Life Parent Resource on Physical Literacy
www.canadiansportforlife.ca/parents/physical-literacy Center on the
Developing Child Harvard University
www.developingchild.harvard.edu/ Mount Royal University Centre for
Child Well-Being www.mtroyal.ca/wellbeing Ontario Physical and
Health Education Association www.ophea.net 28. Dawne Clark
Professor, Department of Child & Youth Studies Director, Centre
for Child Well-Being Mount Royal University T: 403.440.6941 E:
[email protected]
