Hi there and good morning to you,

Did you know, only twenty-three per cent of Australian children aged five to fourteen meet the recommended sixty minutes of physical activity a day, and fewer than half of primary-aged children can competently perform the basic movement patterns we tend to assume come naturally: running, hopping, catching, throwing. These are not fringe statistics. They describe a generation of children arriving in early childhood rooms with less foundational movement capability than the children before them, and it matters far more than a quick game of Tip can fix.

Before a child can hold a pencil with control, sit upright at group time without constantly fidgeting, or balance long enough to pour their own cup of water, they need a strong, stable core. Core strength and balance are not physical education extras bolted onto the real curriculum. They are the physical foundation underneath almost everything else we ask young bodies to do.

Why Core Strength and Movement Matter Right Now

NSW Health’s Munch and Move framework identifies thirteen fundamental movement skills every child needs to master in the early years: seven locomotor skills, running, jumping, hopping, galloping, leaping, side-sliding and skipping, and six object control skills, catching, underarm throw, overarm throw, kicking, dribbling and striking. These are not skills children simply pick up on their own. They need to be explicitly taught, practised and given feedback on, in much the same way we teach early literacy or numeracy.

Recent literature from the Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, found that a twelve-week core strength training programme measurably improved children’s balance and fundamental movement skills, including single-leg jumping and backward balance walking, compared with standard physical education alone. Core work is not separate from movement skill. It is the engine room for it.

Research into fine motor development also reinforces the same point from the opposite direction: the control a child needs to grip scissors, thread beads or hold a paintbrush steady is built from the trunk outward, not the fingers in. A wobbly core produces a wobbly hand, no matter how much table-top practice follows.

Three Actions to Build Core Strength and Movement Today

1. Build core strength into everyday moments, not just in a gross motor activity

Reaching, twisting, carrying and pushing all build core stability just as effectively as a formal exercise routine, and they are already available in your programme. Watering cans in the garden, digging in the sandpit, wheelbarrow walks and crawling under low branches on excursion all ask the trunk to stabilise while the limbs work. Frame these moments explicitly as strength-building, not just play, and look for more of them across your day.

2. Practise the thirteen skills by name, with real feedback

Deliberately teach and name each fundamental movement skill: “Let’s practise our underarm throw at the beanbag target,” or “Try hopping like a kangaroo across the mat outdoors.” Give specific, corrective feedback, “bend your knees when you land”, the same way you would scaffold an early phonics sound. Naming the skill helps children understand they are building something, not simply playing a game.

3. Connect core stability to fine motor tasks explicitly

At the drawing table and the art area, check posture before worrying about pencil grip: feet flat, hips supported, back upright. A wobbly base makes for a wobbly hand. A brief seated balance activity, sitting tall, reaching across the body to choose materials, before a fine motor task primes exactly the muscles that steady the hand for drawing, cutting or threading.

A moment to reflect… Think of a child in your group who fidgets constantly at group time, or who tires quickly holding a paintbrush or pencil. Could the root cause be core strength rather than concentration or fine motor delay? What is one whole-body movement activity, crawling, carrying, climbing, digging, you could build into this week’s programme before reaching for a table-top fine motor task?

Strong movement foundations are built through daily repetition, not a single circle time lesson.

How Personhood360 supports you

​Personhood360’s Planning Cycle Matrix helps you plan and track each child’s progress across all thirteen fundamental movement skills, linked directly to EYLF Outcome 3, physical wellbeing. Our professional development library includes practical modules on core strength, balance and motor skill progression, built for educators without a physical education background. Wellbeing tracking flags children who may be showing early signs of motor delay, so you can act early rather than waiting for a school readiness assessment to raise it. Real-time family reporting shares movement milestones with families as they happen, not just at the end of a term.

Book a free introduction session and see how Personhood360 can help your team build every child’s strength, balance and movement confidence, every day.

​▶ Book your free intro session.

With gratitude,
​The Personhood360 Team