Teaching resource: Physical literacy lesson plans

The kids are back in school. Do you know where their physical literacy is?

Across Canada, provincial ministries of education have started to incorporate physical literacy language into their curriculum guidelines as recognition of physical literacy grows. The challenge for many teachers is getting up to speed on what physical literacy really means, and then finding teaching resources for helping children to develop it.

Active for Life has created a solution for teachers: Free physical literacy lesson plan modules in downloadable PDF format. The modules are purpose-built for preschool and elementary school teachers who want to begin helping students to develop the fundamentals of physical literacy, but who may need a hand getting started.

Each school module presents 10 lesson plans for leading 10 physical activity sessions. Each session is 30 minutes. Different lesson plans cover different fundamental movement skills such as running, hopping, jumping, skipping, balancing, throwing, and catching.

All of the lesson plans feature a simple, clean layout for easy reading and scanning. Each provides a class warm up, skill demonstration, introductory activities for basic skill practice, and finally, one or two fun games where children apply and develop their new skills.

There are also special tips for instruction and lists of verbal cues to help teachers to deliver the most effective instruction and gentle coaching.

If you are a parent who wants to ensure your child is getting opportunities to develop physical literacy at school, forward this article to your child’s teacher. If you are a teacher or school administrator who wants to promote physical literacy in your school, check out the Active for Life professional resources and lesson plan modules pages to learn more.

Have fun in physical literacy!