This is the conclusion reached by the Mulier Institute, which investigated the current provision and level of physical activity opportunities for toddlers and preschoolers in formal childcare in the report ‘Skilled in physical activity from an early age’. Because childcare staff are willing to do so, further training on the importance of physical activity and providing tools for an appropriate range of activities could be a first step towards structurally implementing activities focused on fundamental movement skills in daycare centres in the Netherlands.

No clear picture can be given of the current level of movement skills among toddlers and preschoolers in the Netherlands, because systematic (comparative) research and data analysis of the motor skills of toddlers and preschoolers in the Netherlands are currently lacking. The new National Childcare Quality Monitor (LKK) provides a general picture of the current provision of physical activity opportunities in childcare. The initial results show that, across all forms of childcare, attention is paid to activities focused on motor development an average of two to four times a week, with slightly more attention paid to motor development in daycare centres than in other forms of daycare. Small-scale studies indicate that children in childcare spend a great deal of time sitting: only 40 percent of children are moderately to vigorously active for one hour a day, which is the standard for children between the ages of 4 and 12. In the Netherlands, there is not yet a standard for children under the age of 4.

In both childcare policy and childcare practice, attention to motor development and the development of movement skills has increased in recent years. For example, ‘Skilled in physical activity from an early age’ is one of the six pillars of the National Sports Agreement. Becoming skilled in physical activity at a young age lays the foundation for participation later in life and for an active, healthy lifestyle. For national and local policy, it is important to learn more about the current level of movement skills among toddlers and preschoolers. This requires (more) systematic research that examines not only the extent to which they are physically active, but also the movement skills they have acquired.

Click here for the report ‘Skilled in physical activity from an early age’.


Other articles about reports by the Mulier Institute: