physical literacy
Physical literacy is the ability to move about confidently in a variety of dance, sport, and other active situations. It involves mastering fundamental movement skills so that they can be active in a variety of settings. There are four main components to physical literacy: physical fitness, physical activity behaviours, motor skills, and knowledge and understanding. Physical literacy is part of the long term athletic development (LTAD), and without developing these basic skills, children and adults will not possess the ability to maintain an active lifestyle.
Physical Fitness
Includes factors such as cardio-respiratory fitness, flexibility, and muscular strength. In order to increase fitness, it is important that children take part in aerobic activities - such as running, biking, and swimming. By taking part in a physical activity every day, children can develop a high level of fitness
How can AVGs help my child improve their fitness?
Physical Activity Behaviours
Includes directly measurable daily activities, such as tracking your daily steps, or how many minutes you spend doing physical activities each day. Encourage children to incorporate more activity into their daily routine - get up to change the channel of the TV instead of using the remote, stand up when playing games instead of sitting, and so on. You can change some of your daily habits to include more activity. Active transportation is a great way to increase active behaviours during the day - if possible, walk or bike to the store, to school, or to work instead of driving.
How can AVGs help my child improve their physical activity behaviours?
Motor Skills
Includes physical competency and mastery of fundamental movement skills, such as balance, coordination, and agility, and sport specific skills. By participating in a range of games and sports during the early years of childhood, children can develop a range of sport specific skills, as well as general skills that can be transferred to other active situations.
How can AVGs help my child improve their motor skills?
Knowledge and Understanding
Summarizes how you think about physical activity and why it is important to be active. It is important for children to understand why they need to be active, and how it can impact their health. Explaining the benefits to them using age-appropriate terms can help them gain an appreciation of why active play is important.
This concept also incorporates attitudes towards physical activity - in addition to understanding why it is important, how much do children enjoy being active? Find activities that your child enjoys and encourage them to play with their friends - or get the family together to play an active game!
How can AVGs help my child improve their knowledge and understanding?
For more information about developing physical literacy, and the long term athlete development model, see the Canadian Sport for Life - Developing Physical Literacy Guide (click here).
Includes factors such as cardio-respiratory fitness, flexibility, and muscular strength. In order to increase fitness, it is important that children take part in aerobic activities - such as running, biking, and swimming. By taking part in a physical activity every day, children can develop a high level of fitness
How can AVGs help my child improve their fitness?
- Many games, such as dance based games (ex. DDR, Just Dance) require high levels of movement and can be quite exhausting. Playing games at a moderate intensity for 30 minutes a day can help children expend energy, improve their endurance, and strengthen leg muscles.
- If children are playing at a moderate intensity, by the time they are finished they should be slightly out of breath, a little bit tired, and possibly thirsty. It is important to stay hydrated even when playing indoor activities!
Physical Activity Behaviours
Includes directly measurable daily activities, such as tracking your daily steps, or how many minutes you spend doing physical activities each day. Encourage children to incorporate more activity into their daily routine - get up to change the channel of the TV instead of using the remote, stand up when playing games instead of sitting, and so on. You can change some of your daily habits to include more activity. Active transportation is a great way to increase active behaviours during the day - if possible, walk or bike to the store, to school, or to work instead of driving.
How can AVGs help my child improve their physical activity behaviours?
- By playing AVGs children can become active and have fun at the same time. If children associate being active with having fun, they are more likely to continue to be active in other areas of their life.
- Some systems, such as the gamercize, require players to use a stepper while playing to power the controller - if they stop moving, they can't play the game. This can incorporate physical activity into an otherwise sedentary pass time.
Motor Skills
Includes physical competency and mastery of fundamental movement skills, such as balance, coordination, and agility, and sport specific skills. By participating in a range of games and sports during the early years of childhood, children can develop a range of sport specific skills, as well as general skills that can be transferred to other active situations.
How can AVGs help my child improve their motor skills?
- Sports based games can help children understand the basic movements required in real-life sport situations. Although the movements are not exactly the same, the general motion can be practised. This can allow children to gain confidence in their abilities in a safe setting and encourage them to take part in real-world sports and games after they have experienced virtual success.
- Games that use a handheld controller instead of a motion sensor can sometimes be completed using smaller motions. For example, in a basketball game, instead of jumping and moving your whole arm to shoot the ball, it might be possible to just flick your wrist to complete the in-game action. Although this doesn't help to develop the sport specific skill, it can help develop manual dexterity (fine motor movements). By completing smaller wrist movements efficiently, it can help improve children's fine motor abilities.
- Dance based games that require full body movement can help improve balance and coordination. Gross motor movements, those that require the whole body, can be developed through practising moving the arms and legs at the same time in different types of dances.
Knowledge and Understanding
Summarizes how you think about physical activity and why it is important to be active. It is important for children to understand why they need to be active, and how it can impact their health. Explaining the benefits to them using age-appropriate terms can help them gain an appreciation of why active play is important.
This concept also incorporates attitudes towards physical activity - in addition to understanding why it is important, how much do children enjoy being active? Find activities that your child enjoys and encourage them to play with their friends - or get the family together to play an active game!
How can AVGs help my child improve their knowledge and understanding?
- Some games, such as Wii Fit, allow you to track your progress and give you feedback on your performance. This feedback can help children (and adults) see how being active can impact their body.
- By having fun while playing games, children will associate fun with being active, and they are more likely to continue to engage in active games.
For more information about developing physical literacy, and the long term athlete development model, see the Canadian Sport for Life - Developing Physical Literacy Guide (click here).