Keeping children active
Babies and children should enjoy active play every single day and as parents, carers or educators, we can all play a vital role in helping kids form lifelong healthy habits.
This page is part of the Kids at Play Active Play program.
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About active play
Active play is an important way for children to be physically active.
Active play includes any play activity that involves moderate to vigorous bursts of high energy. Put simply, if it raises their heart rate and makes them "huff and puff", it’s active play.
Benefits of active play
Regular active play or physical activity helps:
- healthy growth and development
- healthy weight and reduction of the risk of disease like diabetes or cancer later in life
- build strong hearts, muscles and bones
- learning of fundamental movement skills
- improved movement, balance, coordination and reaction time
- increased mental well-being
- improved social skills, self-esteem and confidence.
For parents and carers
The active play milestones workshop is a free online workshop supporting families to ensure that their children reach their active play developmental milestones and foster a love of being active.
The workshop:
- is designed for parents and carers of children aged 2 or those that are upwardly mobile, to 5 years
- is run by a physiotherapist from the Child Development Service
- includes information on age-appropriate physical activities and milestones, benefits of active play, how to support children to be active, screen time, how to incorporate more active play into your child’s day, and active play resources.
Workshop dates and information on bookings can be found at the Child Development Service.
For educators
If you're an educator, encourage and plan for the kids in your care to be active every day. Educators are often role models, so whenever possible, join in with the activities you plan for the children.
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