Activematters highly recommends this new resource – full of useful information / statistics. It will provide an effective support for all teachers and carers of young children.
Author: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales in collaboration with Professor Robert Waldinger
Pikler news – a really interesting/useful piece highlighting Pikler principles – a must read.
How active-play uniforms could reshape UK primary school classrooms by boosting children’s health, confidence and engagement.
A new online physical development course has been launched by NZ based Moving Smart – activematters is delighted to support this initiative and would encourage anyone caring for young children to engage – easy to follow and including excellent visuals – students can download a wide range of materials to support their practice and parenting.
Presented to Parliament by Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education by Command of His Majesty.
A new free resource emphasising the importance of play in children’s early years and how educators can promote play, has been launched.
Why early years matters.
Nearly one in five parents buy unhealthy food every week because they can’t afford healthier food, reveals new research as a coalition of organisations call for free school meals to be expanded.
The Feed the Future campaign run by the School Food Review is calling for Free School Meals at lunchtime to be extended to all children, beginning with those from families on Universal Credit.
A massive analysis of over 375 trials shows that structured exercise significantly reduces depression and anxiety in children and teens. Low-intensity resistance activities like light weights were most effective for easing anxiety, while moderate mixed-mode programs worked best for depression, especially when lasting under 12 weeks.
A coalition of education and childcare organisations has developed a new ‘school readiness’ definition to be used by early years settings, school staff, parents and carers.
The Government has launched its national supervised toothbrushing programme for early years, which will see nurseries and primary schools help three to five-year-olds develop good brushing habits.
These entertaining stories feature collaboration and social-emotional skills to highlight the benefit of working together to accomplish a goal.
This release highlights finding from polling of 1,000 UK parents with children aged between 1 and 5 on the levels of their child’s physical activity.
Evidence-based education outside the classroom for children, teachers and society.
Changes in children’s body mass index between 2006/07 and 2015/16
Report focusing on the Government’s headline metric of relative child poverty and look at what might be needed to achieve this welcome goal in the face of significant headwinds.
Results from the 2025 Early Learning and Child Well‑being Study
This research explored the lived experiences of physical interactions between educators and 0–3-year-olds in four early years settings in the UK.
Interesting evaluation here – worth remembering that only 40% managed to complete the programme (very overstretched EY staff) but children were 20% more active when attending settings than they were at home – EY staff do make a significant difference.
Examines whether fine- and gross-motor skills in infancy predict child behavioral health at 7 years of age.
Using the socio-ecological model, this qualitative study aimed to explore teachers’ perspec- tives on the barriers and facilitators to Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) and physical activity engagement in children living in...
This study compared the mastery of fundamental motor skills (FMS) of males and females in early-childhood (four to five years, n = 170) and in middle-childhood (nine to ten years, n = 109) who attend schools in deprived and ethnically diverse areas of England
To report the proportion of 3- and 4-year-old children who met the World Health Organization guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep across 33 countries.
New article published with an evolutionary approach on risky play.
In this special issue focusing on Physical education in early childhood education, the editorial board of JECER publish the selected work of leading early childhood education as well as leading physical education researchers.
A free course aimed at increasing your knowledge about how young children’s physical devleopment can be supported.
Useful document about children’s right to play just published by PlayWales.
A proposal for a new early years guarantee to give all children in England the best start in life.
This study examined the potential efficacy of a professional development (PD) programme on improving the quality of the ECE movement environment and children’s physical activity, motor, literacy and numeracy skills.
If we want to improve the health of our country, we should start with our children. With the NHS under historic levels of pressure, and demographics only set to make it harder to meet these, we need to do everything we can to ensure that the next generation is as healthy as it possibly can be:
There is a simple, inexpensive and joyful way to address many of the major challenges facing society and its children; addressing the alarming mental health crisis and obesity epidemic and helping to prepare children for an ever-changing work force.
Herts Sport & Physical Activity Partnership introduces new Herts Mini Movers content!
A useful series of leaflets for parents/practitioners from a team in Manchester, simple and accessible they are an excellent addition to available resources in the field.
We had a very interesting week last week. Our favourite resources? A length of magic hose that I was given. I cut the end off and then tied it in a circle. It is soooo stretchy that it is like a bungee cord. Children have been...
For further information please see Herts Mini Movers
We hope you have enjoyed the series and that they gave you some ideas for fun activities during...
We hope you enjoyed the sock activities we suggested in our previous newsletter – two young girls...
This is our fourth ‘keep calm- keep moving’ newsletter and we hope you are managing to do both –...
We must stop treating children’s social and emotional development as an optional extra.
Guidance for leaders and managers of early year settings.
The Birth Injury Justice Center has compiled the most in-depth resources nationwide to help guide and serve all families affected by physical birth injuries.
f you want to find out about out of school clubs, and how to get started with setting one up, this is where you need to start.
Kids Run Free’s mission is to create fun, free and sustainable running opportunities for toddlers to teens, igniting their passion for physical activity and encouraging them to be healthier, happier and more confident.
Supporting children with a parent in prison.
The MOVERS is a valuable resource for early years educational centres to use to evaluate and improve their practice and provision in the vital curriculum area of physical development.
With growing concerns over declining levels of school readiness and physical activity, this book outlines the importance of quality early movement experiences and explores the connection between poor early physical development opportunities and later difficulties in the classroom.