Many adolescents lack the requisite physical preparation for sport participation and PA. Multi-sport participation and resistance training during youth (age 5-11) and adolescence (age 12-17) years can positively affect physical activity levels, health outcomes, and promote long-term athletic development (LTAD). The National Strength and…

The improvement and mastery of balance has been considered an important motor-skill concept for children in the past and incorporating new dynamic balance routines in the curriculum could lead to positive outcomes in children's motor development. This article describes dynamic balance routines and drills that can be used as a unit to promote…

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…

Through play and physical activities (PAs), children have many opportunities to develop gross motor skills that require the use of large muscles for movement and control. Young children use gross motor skills as they engage in daily tasks such as sitting upright, maintaining control and balance while seated, walking down the hallway, moving…

During the preschool years children develop many new skills, including gross motor abilities, which serve as a foundation for school readiness skills in areas such as language, socialization and cognition. Like other domains, motor skill development does not happen without practice opportunities. That is, it requires multiple opportunities whereby…

In today's physical education classroom, many teachers feel starved for fresh, innovative activities to teach. This article presents team handball (TH) as one such activity. Although TH is not a new activity (it was first played toward the end of the 19th century in countries such as Denmark, Germany and Sweden), for many students in the United…

The goal of the 2018 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Physical Education is to develop "physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthful physical activity. To pursue a lifetime of healthful physical activity, a physically literate individual: (1) Has learned the skills…

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a condition characterized by difficulty in the development of motor coordination and learning new motor skills. It impacts on a child's ability to carry out everyday tasks such as getting dressed, using cutlery, writing or drawing, running, and playing sport. It is not due to any intellectual difficulty…

This teaching tip focuses on using hand-clapping to teach content area material across the curriculum. We begin with a brief history of hand-clap songs, followed by a rationale for using them in content area literacy. Then, we describe the instructional lesson, share samples that resulted, and discuss lesson extensions. Our goal is to have…

Historically, gymnastics has served an essential role in physical education and the development of physical fitness. Participating in gymnastics-related activities can improve the physical and motor fitness of children of all ages and can make significant contributions to the goals of physical education. This article describes the importance of…

This article describes a music and movement intervention for children in preschool classrooms. The intervention, consisting of sequenced music and movement activities, has been studied as a curriculum conducted by outside interventionists (Yazejian & Peisner-Feinberg, 2009/this issue) with results providing some support for the beneficial effects…

In aligning the curriculum for the preparation of future teachers, it is essential to teach knowledge and application of the interactions among content knowledge (about motor skills and fitness principles), procedural knowledge (how to teach skills and promote fitness), and the teaching of physical activity (how to execute a lesson). This article…

In today's environment of high-stakes testing, handwriting is a skill that is often overlooked in order to focus on other areas of the curriculum. However, research indicates that handwriting is tied to academic achievement, especially composition and literacy skills. This article provides strategies that can be used to support students with…

The NASPE standards for physical education programs stress that students should not only achieve competence in physical skills but also acquire and integrate the underlying concepts that can lead to effective movement. Physical educators can successfully embed these underlying concepts into the daily skill instruction and guided practice in their…

With childhood obesity and physical inactivity at an all-time high, parents and physical educators alike must look to the early years to promote competent and confident young movers. Popular opinion believes that children are naturally active and motor skill development progresses as a normal function of getting older. However, if one looks at…