Stressing that kids develop physical literacy gradually through a variety of structured and unstructured activities, the Active for Life “What is Physical Literacy?” web page identifies “Encourage early movement” as the focus of 0-3 years, and “Expand on play and keep it fun” as the focus for 3-5 years.

The resource “6 ways to start your baby on the road to physical literacy” identifies crawling and grasping as the precursors to physical literacy which need to be encouraged in the first year of infancy. https://activeforlife.com/start-baby-on-road-to-physical-literacy/  “Regular movement is essential to healthy brain development, and your job is to stimulate and encourage age-appropriate movement in the right ways at the right times throughout the year….As your baby gets older, the physical skills they learn later will be built on the basic motor skills they develop in their first year.”  This is offered with the note that, “Every child develops at different speeds and different times.  If your child doesn’t seem ready for some of these activities, there’s a good chance you simply need to wait a bit.”

The six skills on which the article focuses are Grasping, Rolling over, Sitting, Crawling, Cruising, and Walking.

The article describes each skill and its importance in the context of building physical literacy, and offers tips, such as “tummy time” to encourage the child to practice each of the skills.  https://activeforlife.com/7-steps-to-tummy-time/

Tummy time is important because the skills learned while on the tummy are essential for later development, but it can initially be frustrating for them, as it requires learning to hold up their head, a skill they are not born with.

Step 1:  Baby is held up to adult’s shoulder while being burped or carried.  “This really is the first step to helping a baby learn to be comfortable in a prone position.  The higher up on your shoulder you hold the baby, the more strength she requires to keep that head up and steady.

Step 2: Baby lies with tummy down on adult’s tummy/chest.  They recommend starting in a reclining position on a couch propped with pillows or reclining chair and gradually move to a lying down position as the infant gains confidence in lying on the parent’s tummy.

Step3:  Baby lies with tummy down across adult’s arms while playing or being carried.  This takes practice, but once you and the baby are comfortable with the position, you can start to move the baby around, fast and slow, up and down, round and round  - responding to her happy responses, with stops every minute or so to allow her body to really register the movements.

Step 4: Baby lies with tummy down on exercise ball, beach ball, big pillow or adult’s shins.  “You can turn it into a game by putting her on your shins and playing “elevator” as you slowly move her up and down as you sing or talk or do whatever you must in order to make it fun!”

Step 5:  Baby lies with tummy down across adult’s legs, with adult either sitting in a chair or on the ground. (Apparently this position can help alleviate the discomfort or gas or colic.) “My favourite was to sit on the floor with my legs extended so that he could start to put his arms out in front of him on the floor.  This transitions nicely into step six…”

Step 6:  Baby lies with tummy down and upper chest positioned over a rolled-up towel on the floor with arms over the towel.  “You can place a toy, boo, mirror or even another person in front of her in order to make this position more attractive.”

Resource for parents of babies 0-1 years old and toddlers 1-3 years old can be found at:  https://activeforlife.com/activities-for-babies-and-toddlers/

On the activities page the activities can be sorted by age, from 1 – 12.  The sorted activities for toddlers (age 1 sorting) can be found at:  https://activeforlife.com/activities/?age=1&skill=