Kool Beginnings Curriculum – Active, Healthy Bodies
Our Kool Beginnings Curriculum (KBC) block, ‘Active, Healthy Bodies,’ focuses on children’s physical health and overall wellbeing. It covers motor skills development, nutrition, healthy habits, hygiene, fitness, and social-emotional growth through physical play. This aligns with different stages of physical development marked by important milestones.
Understanding that children’s physical health and well-being are influenced by both hereditary (nature) and environmental (nurture) factors, the ‘Active, Healthy bodies’ block explores both the development of motor skills as a pathway to greater autonomy and independence and the importance of balanced lifestyles.
A balanced lifestyle incorporates elements such as good nutrition, physical activity, personal safety, and adequate rest, serving as the foundation for children’s physical well-being.
By scaffolding unstructured, self-directed, active play, the block supports a balanced daily routine that includes physical activity alongside moments of inactivity and opportunities for rest and relaxation.
- Active play is an important aspect of ‘active, healthy bodies’, supporting children to utilise large muscle groups, experiment with various movements, create play spaces, invent games, and, above all, experience joy. As children engage in active play, they grasp movement concepts and skills, locomotor skills, and manipulative skills, applying them in various activities like sports, dance, and gymnastics.
- Unstructured play allows for spontaneous, open-ended activities where children explore and engage freely in movement, without predetermined rules or adult guidance, discovering their bodies abilities and interests at their own pace
- Self-directed play encourages children to independently choose and direct their physical activities, choosing movements, and creating games, fostering both motor skill development and a sense of individual agency.
Educators are also encouraged to recognise the pivotal role of our resources and environments, their unique provocations and benefits. In terms of the ‘Active, Healthy Bodies’ block, outdoor environments are crucial contributors to success. Outdoor play not only fosters broader opportunities for physical fitness but also exposes children to vital elements such as sunlight and fresh air, contributing to bone development, a robust immune system, and mental health. The ‘Active, Healthy Bodies’ block, encourages a holistic perspective, where educators address all facets of learning and development and recognise that healthy lifestyles are not merely taught, but crucially modelled by adults.
