1-2-3-MOVE!
Co-created initiatives focused on MOTOR COMPETENCE to kickstart 1- to 3-year-old Flemish toddlers' developmental trajectories
Modern era children struggle to obtain age-appropriate levels of motor competence (MC) from an early age onwards. MC refers to the deliberate performance of coordinated motor actions in the context of daily life, during play and view of physical activity and/or sports participation. Childcare professionals sounded the alarm as it seems more difficult these days to achieve certain milestones in 1- to 3-year-olds, possibly jeopardizing a holistic development. Because literature on the MC status and development of this age group as well as targeted strategies to promote MC in toddlers is virtually non-existent, this project aims to counteract the downward secular trend in MC and its consequences with a high-quality research and valorisation trajectory.
The “1-2-3 MOVE!” project aims to comprehensively document MC during the first years of life in a sustainable way from a multidisciplinary approach combining both academic and practice related insights. In addition to examining the current status MC, its development, correlates and determinants in 1- to 3-year-olds, we wish to develop a multitude of initiatives to stimulate MC by means of co-creation with all stakeholders and to investigate the effects of these initiatives on MC and other developmental domains (including the cognitive, psychological, socio-emotional and communicative level) in toddlers. Each of these objectives includes a series of deliverables, which will be valorised both during and after the project, by realizing them in a cost-effective and sustainable way or by embedding them in existing activities of the stakeholders.
This project is part of a larger SBO-project in collaboration with Ghent University. Lore Daelman will specifically focus on the child and family centered determinants of MC, and on implementing co-created initiatives within the home setting.