National School Sports Week (UK) | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with National School Sports Week. National School Sports Week is a UK-wide initiative run by the Youth Sport Trust, a national charity dedicated to building a brighter future for young people through sport. The event is an annual celebration of the power of sport and physical activity to enhance children’s lives, typically taking place over a week in June. It encourages schools and children to engage in a variety of physical activities to promote health, well-being, and social skills. For official information, resources, and details about the event, please visit the Youth Sport Trust website: www.youthsporttrust.org/school-support/national-school-sports-week.

Understanding National School Sports Week in EYFS & KS1

Let's get ready, get set, and get active for National School Sports Week! 🏃‍♀️⚽️🤸‍♀️

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this week provides a wonderfully active and crucial theme for exploring physical education (PE), sport, exercise, teamwork, healthy living, expressive movement, and confidence-building. It’s about inspiring children to develop a lifelong love for being active, teaching them the values of teamwork and resilience, and ensuring they feel included and celebrated for their participation. This week offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about health, coordination, and friendship both essential and wonderfully exciting!

Why Is Learning About Sport and Movement Important for Young Children?

Integrating National School Sports Week and themes of sport and movement into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for holistic development, fostering well-being, and building a foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

• Promotes Physical Health: Encourages children to be active, developing their gross motor skills, coordination, and strength.

• Teaches Teamwork & Social Skills: Provides opportunities to work with others, share, take turns, and learn how to be a good sport.

• Builds Resilience & Confidence: Helps children learn to try again when they find something challenging and to feel proud of their effort, regardless of the outcome.

• Supports Mental Well-being: Shows the connection between physical activity and feeling happy, focused, and energised.

• Encourages Inclusivity: Creates a space where all children can participate and feel valued, celebrating different abilities and interests.

Engaging Sport & Movement Activities for National School Sports Week (EYFS & KS1)

Let's get moving for National School Sports Week with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on inclusive participation, skill development, and most importantly, having fun! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our dedicated ‘Exercise’, ‘Expressive Movement’, ‘Football’, and ‘Sport and PE Games’ resources.

Here's some inspiration for celebrating National School Sports Week in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken. Emphasise positive messages about trying your best and being a good teammate.)

Getting Active with Themed Sports & Games

• Themed Obstacle Course: Design a mini-obstacle course using hoops, cones, tunnels, and crawling nets. Themed obstacles could include a "jungle jump" or a "river crossing."

• Sports Day Fun: Organise a mini-sports day with a 'Kid Olympics - Sports Day Pack'. You could also create your own races, like a classic egg-and-spoon race or a three-legged race, and use the 'Sports Day - Sign-up helper pack' to get children involved in the organisation.

• Creative Sports: Encourage children to invent their own sport! Provide simple props like balls, hoops, and scarves, and ask them to come up with the rules and a name for their game.

• Skill-Building: Use our resources like 'Sport Skills - A4 Cards' and 'Sport Skills - A5 Cards' to practise key skills like throwing, catching, and kicking. You can also set up throwing and catching stations using different sized balls and buckets.

• Celebrating Effort: Use ''Kids Olympics'/'Sports Day' - Certificates’ to award every child for their participation and effort. This is a great way to celebrate every single person's contribution.

Creative & Imaginative Movement

• Mindful Movement: Use 'PE ACTION - Colouring Sheets (Mindfulness)' for a calm, cool-down activity after a period of intense movement.

• Imaginative Challenges: Use our themed movement cards like 'Dinosaur Activity/Movement Challenge - Cartoon', 'Fairies - Activity/Movement Challenge Cards', and 'Jack And The Beanstalk - Activity/Movement Challenge Cards' to inspire imaginative movement.

• Animal Adventures: Use 'Animal Dance Cards', 'Animal Dance Cards - Adverbs', and 'Animal Dance Cards - Verbs' to get children moving like different animals, using descriptive language to enhance their movements. You could also play some music and get children to act out the movements they hear.

• Outdoor Exploration: Use 'OUTDOOR PLAY - Movement Prompt Cards' for creative ideas during outdoor play. You could also go on a nature walk and encourage children to climb, jump, and balance on natural obstacles like logs or small hills.

More ideas

• Sports Day Display: Get children to help create posters for the event using 'Sports Day - Poster templates' and 'Sports Day - Flyer templates (A5)', and use the 'Sports Day - Blank Arrows' to direct people to the different activities.

• Recounting the Fun: Use the 'Kid Olympics - Differentiated Recount Writing Sheets' to encourage children to write or draw about their favourite part of the week.

• Themed Learning: Tie in sports to other areas of learning with our resources like 'FOOTBALL - Design a Football Kit', 'FOOTBALL - Numbers 0-20', 'TENNIS BALL - Counting & Number Match Puzzles', or a fun 'FOOTBALL - Dice Game' or 'TENNIS BALL - Dice Game'.

Explore Related Pages: For more extensive ideas, explore our dedicated pages:

• 'Exercise'

• 'Expressive Movement'

• 'Football'

• 'Out and About'

• 'Sport and PE Games'

These activities offer great inspiration for making National School Sports Week a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering active living, teamwork, confidence-building, and a lifelong love for sport and movement.

To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘National School Sports Week (UK)’

Free ‘Sports’ and ‘Movement’ related EYFS & KS1 Printable Resources and Activities:

‘Sports’ and ‘Movement’ related EYFS & KS1 Printable Resources and Activities:

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes

More Early Years Event Pages for June

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!

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Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'National School Sports Week'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the Youth Sport Trust, which runs this annual initiative. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and details, please visit the Youth Sport Trust website: www.youthsporttrust.org/national-school-sport-week.