Movement Skills in Physical Education: Categories and Key Examples

Movement Skills

Fundamental physical abilities that serve as the foundation for all forms of physical activity, from daily tasks to complex sports.

Build Coordination

Movement skills help children and adults control their bodies more effectively, improving balance, timing, and rhythm.

Foundation for Sports and Daily Activities

Basic movement skills are the 'building blocks' for more complex movements in sports and useful in daily life activities.

Promote Physical Fitness

Practicing different movement skills keeps the body active, strengthens muscles and bones, improves heart and lung function, and helps maintain a healthy weight.

Categories of Movement Skills

Includes manipulative skills, non-locomotor skills, and locomotor skills.

Non-Locomotor Skills

Foundational skills involving movements performed without traveling, focusing on maintaining balance and body control.

Key Examples of Non-Locomotor Skills

Balancing on one foot, twisting and turning, bending and stretching.

Locomotor Skills

Skills that enable individuals to navigate and move from one location to another, covering ground effectively.

Key Examples of Locomotor Skills

Walking and running, jumping and hopping, skipping and galloping, crawling and climbing.

Manipulative Skills

Skills involving using body parts to control, handle, or interact with objects, developing precision and coordination.

Throwing

Propelling an object through the air with accuracy and force.

Catching

Intercepting and securing a moving object with precision.

Kicking

Using the foot to propel an object, often a ball, with control.

Dribbling

Controlling an object while moving, such as a basketball or soccer ball.