Footie Families

Welcome to Footie Families, the programme designed for parents and their young children to play together and engage in fun activities, to help develop fundamental movement skills.
Before playing football, or any sport, our little ones need to develop a broad range of skills. Fundamental movement skills, such as balancing, jumping, throwing and kicking are the building blocks of movement and they are essential for children’s participation in physical activity throughout life.
Research shows that children who move well, achieve more academically so this programme will also help with school readiness. Parents are the most important influence on a child’s physical activity levels so by playing together and practicing skills through Footie Families, children will have the a great start to an active life.

TRY AT HOME

Click on a fun session below to start your Footie Families journey with your child at home...

Our collaboration with the Wales Academy for Health & Physical Literacy at UWTSD

Footie Families has been developed by Dr Nalda Wainwright, Director of the Wales Academy for Health & Physical Literacy and the FAW-Trust. Dr Wainwright is an internationally recognised expert in the field of Physical Literacy. Her research into the Foundation Phase curriculum in Wales led to the development of a programme, SKIP Cymru© (Successful Kinaesthetic Instruction for Pre-schoolers in Wales) in collaboration with Professor Jackie Goodway of The Ohio State University. This programme supports the development of physical literacy in the crucial time of early childhood. This work has been recognised internationally as well being a recommendation in the Welsh Government Health and Social Care and Sport Committee report on Physical Activity of Children and Young People. Footie Families draws on the work of SKIP-Cymru© and incorporates structured play-based activities for parents and their children facilitated by specifically trained coaches.

Click here to read more about the Wales Academy for Health & Physical Literacy and the importance of movement

Research Project
With this collaboration, a PhD research project is focusing on evaluating and developing the Footie Families programme. Aims of the research include evaluating how the programme influences children’s motor skills and family’s physical activity behaviours. 
Click here for more information about the research project and how you can support this project.