EYFS PE

Physical Development is vital in children, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy, active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences are developed through sensory explorations, focussing on strength, co-ordination and positional awareness. We provide opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, which supports our children in building core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility.

PE in the Early Years is mainly taught through ‘Physical Development’. The EYFS Framework states:

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

Skills for PE in the Early Years are mainly taught through the following areas of learning:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development
• Expressive Arts and Design

In planning and guiding what children learn, we reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust our practice appropriately, referring to the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning.

The table below outlines the most relevant statements taken from the Early Learning Goals in the EYFS statutory framework and the Development Matters age ranges for Three and Four-Year-Olds and Reception to match our programme of study for PE.

By the end of the EYFS, our children will be able to:

Vocabulary we use:

Space, looking up, stretch, muscle, partner, pairs, run, walk, balance, throw, catch, hit, ball, cone, net, bean bag, jump, hop, carry, follow, lead, copy, sports, games, rules, move, forwards, backwards, equipment, speed, direction, bounce, push, pull, roll.