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Play Active is the only program of its kind in Australia providing evidence-informed guidelines on the amount of physical activity and sedentary time (including screen time) children should do while attending ECEC.
At the heart of Play Active is a service-tailored physical activity policy to help ensure children engage in enough physical activity and energetic play throughout the day, every day while they attend ECEC. The program also provides professional development, resources and support that helps services exceed National Quality Standard 2.1: ‘Each child’s health and physical activity is supported and promoted’.
Play Active supports thousands of children in ECEC services across Australia to move more every day so that all young Australian children can have an active and healthy start to life.
Outside of the home, ECEC services play an important role in supporting young children to be physically active, healthy and developmentally on track.
ECEC services need to meet the Australian National Quality Standards | ACECQA – Quality Area 2:
Play Active also aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework which has a strong wellbeing focus, acknowledging that all types of play, including energetic play, are vital for a child’s development and life success.
While there are Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years, there are no guidelines specific to ECEC.
Nutrition, sleep and sun protection policies are required in many state and territory childcare regulations but there is no guidance around how much physical activity, sedentary and screen time children should have while in care.
Since 2013, partners from ECEC, government, play, public health and research sectors have worked together to develop Play Active.
Play Active has been designed with the ECEC sector to help increase the amount of energetic play children do every day in a safe and supported environment.
Physical activity is any bodily movement that needs energy.
Energetic play, which involves children ‘huffing and puffing’, is critical during the early years of life for a child’s health, wellbeing and development.
Many young Australian children don’t get the recommended three hours of daily physical activity, including 60 minutes of energetic play, needed for their health and development.
Australia has been barely passing with a D- for children’s physical activity levels since 2015.
Physical activity and energetic play provide many benefits for young children including a healthy weight, improved bone health and cardiovascular fitness, and enhanced cognitive, emotional and psychosocial development.
Physical activity and energetic play help children:
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Play Active has long-standing partnerships across the early childhood, health promotion, play and government sectors, alongside world leading research organisations.
Play Active is led by the Child Physical Activity, Health and Development team at the Telethon Kids Institute in collaboration with our partners.
The Telethon Kids Institute in Western Australia is based within the Perth Children’s Hospital, and is one of the largest, and most successful medical research institutes in Australia, comprising a dedicated and diverse team with a shared vision to improve the health and wellbeing of children through excellence in research.
