1 Combine training and play
Preschoolers develop their motor skills best when they receive a combination of targeted training and opportunities to discover through play. Pim Koolwijk: “The combination of targeted training and learning through play helps them improve their motor skills while ensuring that they continue to enjoy being physically active.” It is also important to train all fundamental motor skills in preschoolers: locomotor skills (walking and running), manipative skills (throwing a ball) and stability (balancing).
2 Ensure professional delivery
Research shows that an important prerequisite for successful motor development in preschoolers is a well-trained professional. Pim Koolwijk: “In the Netherlands, preschoolers already receive little physical education, and usually not from a specialist physical education teacher either. Yet we now know how important it is for young children to be guided by a professional who is trained in both the subject matter and educational methods. Someone who knows how to approach young children in the context of sport and physical activity, and which lessons, exercises, methods or interventions to use to teach skills.”
3 Connect the different domains in which preschoolers learn and grow
Preschoolers are physically active in different places: at home, at school, at sports clubs and in their neighbourhood. To improve the quality of motor activity together, it is important for these domains to exchange knowledge and expertise and reinforce one another. Pim Koolwijk: “Someone who can facilitate this effectively, for example, is a community sports coach. They connect the different domains. They can support trainers and, for example, organise training sessions. The community sports coach also has insight into the types of neighbourhoods in which children grow up and any related motor development delays and lifestyle challenges.”
4 Measure what lasts
According to the research, a retention measurement—an additional measurement after some time— is important for determining whether the skill learned really lasts. Pim Koolwijk explains why: “If you teach preschoolers to hop or balance, you want them to still be able to do so three, six and twelve months later, preferably in different forms. Without such a retention measurement, it remains difficult to determine which approaches to physical activity are truly successful and remain so. And that is precisely what we need to know in order to continue refining and developing activities for preschoolers.”
Read here an extensive article on Allesoversport about the findings of Pim Koolwijk and the other researchers.