Sport is important for children of all ages. Through physical exertion, they release excess energy from their bodies and thus train their fitness. Playful sports activities make it fun for children to run and they also improve their social skills when interacting with other children.
The following exercises are suitable as suggestions for sports lessons and at home.

 

Balance exercise

This exercise helps the children to find their own balance and they learn better posture during sport. The children should stand far enough apart so that their outstretched arms do not touch each other. The children are shown the correct posture when running. The arms should be at right angles and pump forwards in the opposite direction to the legs. This means that when the right leg lunges forwards, the left arm follows. The children run on the spot until the adult blows the whistle. This is the signal to come to an immediate standstill in the running position. They balance on one leg and must try to remain as motionless as possible until the whistle blows again.

Speed exercise

The more and more often the children run, the faster they become. In this exercise, they should run as fast as they can and collect as many balls as possible, which have previously been spread out over a wide area on the floor. Each child lines up and is given a bucket, which is placed behind them. On a signal, the children run off, collect a ball and bring it back to the bucket. Then it's on to the next ball, but only one ball can be carried at a time. Whoever has collected the most balls after a certain time wins.

Relay exercise

Relay races are a good exercise for improving running skills and a good exercise for learning sporting behaviour. A small object such as a ball or a stick is used to be passed on. The children are divided into two groups and lined up one behind the other. On a signal, the first child in each group runs with the object in their hand to a specific destination and back again, where they pass the object on to the next child. The next child may only start running when they have the object in their hand and may not run towards the other child. When all the children in a group have completed the round, the game is over.
As an additional challenge, you can let the children run backwards.

Slalom run

Slalom is good for developing dexterity, speed and endurance. Several cones are placed on the playing field. They must be far enough apart so that it is not too difficult for the children to run past them. The children are shown in which order and how to run round the cones without knocking them over. Each child now runs round the course and the time taken is measured with a stopwatch. On the second run, they try to improve their own time.