Your schoolage child's physical abilities

At age six
Most six-year-olds are in motion almost constantly. They love climbing and rough-and-tumble play. Swinging on swings and dancing are good, too. Most six-year-olds should be able to:

• run energetically around the back yard or playground, and skip with alternating feet.
• jump or step sideways.
• bounce a ball, probably with awkward slapping movements.
• throw a ball overhand with accuracy and direction.
• ride a two-wheeled bicycle.
• learn to skate.

At ages seven and eight
Seven- and eight-year-olds are exploding with energy. Left to their own devices, they choose wild, unrestrained horseplay that includes jumping, chasing, wrestling, and tree climbing. They enjoy testing their limits and may be risk takers.

At age nine
Nine-year-olds like to play hard. They often exert themselves to the point of exhaustion. They perform the same activities repeatedly. At this age, they're often interested in improving their athletic skills, and may become obsessed with improving their record of personal bests. They may also become interested in professional sports like baseball and soccer, and get involved in local teams for youngsters.

At age 10
Active play is still a fun part of life for most ten-year-olds, who are active just for the sheer joy of movement. Their skills and stamina have improved to the point where they get real enjoyment from games and activities that put their skills to use. They may have become quite competent on their bikes, and usually prefer to play at outdoor activities, not indoors.

At age 11
By age eleven, when most children are going through one of the stages of puberty and are growing more quickly, they may become more inhibited physically. They may appear both more agile and more awkward.

At age 12
By age twelve, your children may want to concentrate only on the sports and activities that they're good at. Most parents should be careful not to emphasize team sports and "winning at any cost," because kids still benefit most from generalized physical activity and games. Parents should try to maintain their kids' involvement in a variety of activities just for the pleasures of being active -- and the lifelong benefits such physical activity brings.

No strict guidelines
Remember that all children develop their gross and fine motor skills at their own speed, so take these descriptions as rough guidelines for assessing children's increasing skills. There are several organizations that offer training programs of different levels that are not tied solely to age. The Canadian Red Cross has a new updated swimming and water safety program in 2005 called Red Cross Swim. This new program has taken the most popular and effective elements of their existing program (AquaQuest), and added in some new features. To find out more about this new program, visit the swimming and water safety section of the Canadian Red Cross website: www.redcross.ca.