Every year there is lots of debate about school readiness, but one important aspect is often overlooked. In this post Jane Dorrian highlights the role of that physical activity plays in successful transitions.

A group of young children are sitting outside on the ground stretching their hands out in front of them.
Recent reports that one in four children are still in nappies when they start school and the news that one Welsh county will call parents into school to change nappies if their child is not toilet trained have triggered debate about what children should be able to do when they enter nursery or Reception, but the key role that physical activity plays in toilet training and other areas of school-readiness has been overlooked in the discussion. Parents are bombarded with information and advice about the specific skills they should ensure their children have to ensure a successful start to school, things like being able to put their shoes on, sit still and follow instructions, but all these depend on the child having effective physical skills.
Active children develop the body awareness needed for bowel and bladder control. To be able to sit still a child needs to have good core stability, balance, and control and these can only be achieved by engaging in in lots of different types of movement and activity. Manoeuvring a pencil is dependent on being able to control big movements connected to skills like crawling and climbing. Children who are physically confident to explore new activities and situations are more likely to share their experiences with others, discussing and trialling ideas and making new friends. These examples show how physical activity and development is connected to all the other areas of a child’s development. Many of the ‘essentials’ of school-readiness that are highlighted to parents as important relate to speaking and listening, cognition and social and emotional skills, and whilst all of these need to be supported for a child to be able to make a successful transition into school life the role of physical activity in developing them is not often highlighted.
Lots of the equipment that is used with young children is designed to ‘hold’ them and keep in one place. ‘Containers’ like pushchairs and car seats stop children wriggling and stretching, reducing the strength of the muscles supporting the shoulders, hips and spine which are essential for crawling and walking. Often these ‘containers’ face the child away from the adult, reducing opportunities for the child to get a response to their facial expressions or their movements and build their interaction skills. These examples show how physical inactivity can impact on the skills needed for school readiness, limiting children’s ability to get involved in activities and interactions.
There are plenty of debates about what ‘school-readiness’ is, but supporting children to be physically active from birth promotes social, emotional, cognitive and language skills so whatever people think the most important aspects of being ‘school ready’ are, physically active children will have them. Supporting parents and early childhood practitioners to get children active will help to ensure children make the best start to school that they can.
If you would like to find out more about promoting and supporting young children’s physical activity this book has lots of helpful information and practical ideas:
Musgrave, J., Dorrian, J., Josephidou, J., Langdown, B. and Rodriguez Leon, L. (2024), Promoting Physical Development and Activity in Early Childhood, Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003386728/promoting-physical-development-activity-early-childhood-jackie-musgrave-jane-dorrian-joanne-josephidou-ben-langdown-lucy-rodriguez-leon