The Journey begins - Effective PE for 4-6 year olds

Ryan Davies, FA PE Officer 

Anyone who has young children in their family will know that they naturally want to move, play, explore and cause chaos! I’ve certainly always done well beyond my 10’000 steps after a morning playing in the garden with my 4 and 6 year old niece and nephew! As a primary teacher, if you look outside your window at breaktime what do you see? The chances are it will be groups of children running around, playing games they have made up themselves, and enjoying each other’s company (most of the time!).

If at some point in their life a child loses that innate desire to move, play and be active then I would argue that it is because we, as adults, have done something (most likely unintentionally) to disengage them. A question I often ask as a teacher of Primary PE is ‘how much do my lessons look like the games the children play in the playground when there is no adult interference?’. In nearly 20 years within education, I’ve never seen a group of children at lunchtime, without a teaching telling them what to do, put down a line of cones and dribble a ball round them before going to the back of a long queue and waiting for their turn to do it again! So how do we ensure the start of their PE journey in EYFS and Key Stage 1 helps to keep the fire burning inside them to be physically active and helps to develop a life-long love of PE?

For me, the answer to this question lies in the ‘why’ of your PE curriculum. What is its purpose? As a leader of PE in schools, I saw this purpose as developing holistic skills, values and characteristics which will help the children whatever they go on to do in life, while also generating a lifetime of affection for play and movement.

So, how do we do this? I think those observations from the staff room window out onto the playground provide the answer – fun, playful and engaging games. Games and play provide opportunities to develop and teach a host of social and psychological skills, as well enhancing physical literacy and fundamental movements.

The key to these games being fun and engaging however is how we adapt them to meet the needs of a class which may have 30 children all at very different stages of their PE journey. Utilising the STEP Principle is an extremely effective way of doing this. Watch for more information here Ways to adapt your lessons  

Changing the SPACE could involve incorporating a safe zone or a bigger area to move in and explore. A choice of TASK can help support and challenge children at the stage they are currently at. For example, moving with a ball my look very different to two different 5-year-olds. One may already be comfortable dribbling with their feet, while for the other, carrying or bouncing the ball may be more appropriate. Offering different EQUIPMENT also provides children with suitable levels of challenge, throwing and catching with a balloon is very different to using a tennis ball. Finally, utilising the PEOPLE in your session effectively can make a key difference to the engagement of each child. A 3v1 may be an appropriate challenge for some, whereas 2v2 may work better for others. Similarly, a game with one ‘tagger’ will provide different attacking and defending outcomes than one with 5 ‘taggers’.

Simple changes and adaptations to fun and engaging games can ensure that a positive PE environment is created for all children, whether you are a PE specialist or not. Success in PE is every child finishing the lesson excited for the next. If we get this right in EYFS and Key Stage 1 then we have laid the foundations for a lifetime playful and active joy. Embrace the chaos!

For further information on working with 4-6 year olds, please see England Football Learning’s new Play Phase philosophy.