Gross Motor Skills
EYFSPD-R-D001
Whole-body movement competencies including navigation of space, strength, balance, coordination, and a wide energetic movement vocabulary.
National Curriculum context
Gross Motor Skills (ELG 6) is one of two Early Learning Goals within Physical Development, a Prime Area of the EYFS. At Reception, gross motor development focuses on the whole body: children learn to move confidently in and around spaces, developing the physical awareness and self-regulation needed to keep themselves and others safe. They build core strength, balance and coordination through play-based physical activity, and develop a broad vocabulary of energetic movement patterns — running, jumping, hopping, skipping, dancing and climbing. The ELG specifies three outcome strands: safe spatial navigation; strength, balance and coordination; and energetic movement vocabulary. Together these lay the physical foundation for PE at KS1, where the same movement competencies are formalised as fundamental movement skills and applied to games, gymnastics and dance.
3
Concepts
1
Clusters
0
Prerequisites
3
With difficulty levels
Lesson Clusters
Practice: Strength, Balance and Coordination, Energetic Movement Vocabulary, Spatial Awareness and Safety
practiceConcepts (3)
Spatial Awareness and Safety
skill Specialist TeacherPD-R-C001
The ability to perceive one's own position and movement in relation to the surrounding environment and other people, and to adjust movement accordingly to avoid collisions and manage risk. At Reception, this manifests as moving through shared spaces confidently without bumping into others, pausing at obstacles, and changing direction smoothly. It is the social-spatial dimension of physical literacy: children understand that they share physical space with others and bear responsibility for mutual safety.
Teaching guidance
Provide varied indoor and outdoor environments with different spatial challenges: narrow passages, open spaces, crowded areas with peers, fixed and moveable equipment. Use games that require spatial decision-making — tag variants where avoiding others is the goal, 'follow the leader' in complex paths, musical statues. Model and narrate spatial language: 'I can see a gap there', 'I need to slow down because Amara is just ahead'. Introduce risk assessment vocabulary: 'Is it safe?', 'What might happen if...?'. Deliberately avoid environments that are too open and risk-free, as challenge is necessary for developing spatial judgement.
Common misconceptions
Children often focus entirely on their own movement goal (reaching a target, running fast) and become unaware of others around them. This is developmentally normal in younger Reception children; awareness of others as co-occupants of space develops gradually. Some practitioners remove physical challenge to reduce falls; this deprives children of the feedback loops necessary to develop spatial judgement. Managed risk, not elimination of risk, is the correct approach.
Difficulty levels
Beginning to move around the setting without bumping into others or objects, needing reminders to look where they are going.
Example task
During free play, observe whether the child navigates around furniture and other children without collisions.
Model response: The child moves around the classroom with some awareness of others, mostly avoiding obstacles but occasionally bumping into furniture when moving quickly.
Sometimes moving confidently through shared spaces, adjusting speed and direction to avoid others, with growing awareness of personal space.
Example task
During a movement activity in the hall, observe whether the child moves through a busy space without collisions.
Model response: The child moves at different speeds — fast across open space, slowing near other children. They change direction to go around others rather than through them.
Moving confidently in a range of ways, negotiating space successfully, adjusting speed and direction, and showing awareness of others and the environment for safety.
Example task
During outdoor play on a busy climbing frame area, observe the child's spatial awareness and safe movement.
Model response: The child climbs confidently, waits for space before moving to the next section, adjusts their route when another child is in the way, and uses the slide only when the bottom is clear. They say: 'Wait, I need to move first!' to a child climbing behind them.
Delivery rationale
EYFS Physical Development — requires physical space and expert safety supervision for young children.
Strength, Balance and Coordination
skill Specialist TeacherPD-R-C002
The trio of core physical competencies underpinning all confident physical activity. Strength refers to muscular force production, particularly core and upper body strength needed for climbing, hanging and supporting body weight. Balance encompasses both static (holding a position) and dynamic (maintaining stability during movement) postural control. Coordination is the smooth integration of multiple body parts in purposeful movement — the bilateral, cross-lateral and eye-hand coordination that underpins later PE skills, writing and many daily tasks.
Teaching guidance
Ensure daily access to equipment that builds each quality: climbing frames and monkey bars for strength; beams, stepping stones and one-leg activities for balance; ball skills, catching and threading for coordination. Yoga and mindful movement activities develop static balance and body awareness. Bilateral coordination activities (clapping games, threading, using scissors) develop the interhemispheric neural connections that also support reading and writing. Observe children across different activities: a child may have strong balance but poor upper body strength, requiring different provision. Avoid over-scaffolding; allow children to struggle productively with physical challenges.
Common misconceptions
Balance is often understood only as static balance (standing on one leg). Dynamic balance — staying controlled while moving — is equally important and often underdeveloped. Coordination difficulties are sometimes misattributed to lack of effort; they may indicate developmental coordination disorder (DCD/dyspraxia) and warrant specialist input. Strength in young children should be developed through bodyweight and play activities, never weighted exercises.
Difficulty levels
Beginning to develop core strength through climbing, hanging and crawling, with balance supported by equipment or adults.
Example task
Observe the child on the climbing frame. Can they hold their own weight, climb a few steps, and balance on a low beam with support?
Model response: The child climbs three rungs of the ladder, holding tightly. They walk along a low balance beam with an adult holding one hand.
Sometimes demonstrating strength to support activities like climbing, and balancing on equipment with growing confidence, occasionally without support.
Example task
Can the child balance along a line on the ground, climb to the top of the frame, and hang from a bar briefly?
Model response: The child walks along a chalk line with arms out for balance. They climb to the top of the frame without adult help. They hang from a bar for 3-4 seconds before dropping.
Demonstrating strength, balance and coordination across a range of physical activities: climbing, balancing, jumping, negotiating obstacles with confidence.
Example task
Complete an obstacle course: balance along a beam, climb over a low wall, jump across stepping stones, and hang from a bar for 5 seconds.
Model response: The child balances along the beam independently, climbs over the wall confidently, jumps between stepping stones landing on each with control, and hangs from the bar for 6 seconds with a strong grip. They move through the whole course with confidence.
Delivery rationale
EYFS Physical Development — requires physical space and expert safety supervision for young children.
Energetic Movement Vocabulary
skill Specialist TeacherPD-R-C003
A broad repertoire of whole-body locomotor and non-locomotor movement patterns, including running, jumping, hopping, skipping, dancing and climbing. Movement vocabulary at Reception means that children have experienced and can intentionally reproduce a range of movement types, each requiring distinct coordination and body-use patterns. A rich movement vocabulary is the foundation for the 'fundamental movement skills' framework at KS1 PE, where these same patterns are formalised and applied to games, gymnastics and dance.
Teaching guidance
Provide daily opportunities for varied movement, not only free running. Structure some sessions around specific movement types: a skipping session, a jumping session (horizontal, vertical, one-foot take-off, two-foot take-off). Use music with varied tempo and character to prompt different movement qualities. Storytelling and imaginative contexts ('move like a robot', 'travel like water') expand movement vocabulary organically. Teach hopping and skipping explicitly — many children cannot hop on both feet or skip in a coordinated pattern without direct instruction and practice. Celebrate movement diversity: not every child needs to achieve the same pattern at the same time.
Common misconceptions
Outdoor provision is sometimes dominated by running, with insufficient opportunity for the full movement vocabulary. Skipping in particular is often neglected despite being explicitly named in ELG 6. Some children — particularly those with limited outdoor play at home — arrive at Reception with a restricted movement repertoire; this gap responds well to deliberate, playful teaching. Dance is sometimes treated as an arts activity rather than a physical development activity, separating it from the broader movement curriculum.
Difficulty levels
Beginning to run, jump, hop and climb with developing confidence, though movements may lack coordination and control.
Example task
Ask the child to run to the fence, jump over a low rope, and hop back. Observe their movement vocabulary.
Model response: The child runs with a basic running action. They jump over the rope with both feet. They attempt to hop but put the other foot down after two hops.
Sometimes demonstrating a range of whole-body movements with improving coordination: running, jumping, hopping, skipping, climbing, dancing.
Example task
Play a movement game: 'When I say go, skip to the tree, hop around it, and dance back.'
Model response: The child skips with a recognisable skipping action (not galloping). They hop around the tree (5-6 hops). They dance back with free, energetic movement.
Moving energetically with confidence, strength and control across a broad range of movements: running, jumping, hopping, skipping, climbing, dancing.
Example task
During outdoor play, observe the range and quality of the child's self-chosen physical activities.
Model response: The child runs fast across the playground with coordinated arm swing, climbs to the top of the frame confidently, skips along a path, hops on each foot, jumps from a low height landing with bent knees, and dances expressively to music. They move between activities with enthusiasm and control.
Delivery rationale
EYFS Physical Development — requires physical space and expert safety supervision for young children.