Early childhood development is essential to creating a strong foundation for our children’s education and social growth. A huge and fundamental way we can help our children excel in their future is by starting their education early, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). STEM concepts can often be daunting for students. Creating comfortability at an early age is an effective way to give children the confidence they need to continue pursuing STEM throughout their educational journey and, possibly, into their careers!
A great way to engage kindergarten students in STEM is by creating a sports lesson plan. This hands-on approach to learning will keep kids engaged and active while allowing them to improve their fine motor skills. STEM Sports® has created this article to give educators, facilitators, and parents the tools they need to create and implement a sports lesson with their children or students.
Tips for Putting Together a Sports Lesson Planning for Kindergarten
Creating a lesson plan can be a difficult task, regardless of experience. Here is a list of tips and tricks to ensure you are creating a fun and effective lesson for your kindergarten students.
- Choose one sport to focus on for each lesson. Because of the young age of these children, we recommend choosing a sport that is less technical and requires less physical skill. For example, you can choose soccer, which has a variety of STEM lessons that can be created around kicking the ball (There are more details on this later in the article).
- Decide which STEM concept you are going to focus on. With all students, and especially in early education, it is important to focus on one concept to allow children the time they need to think critically about what they are learning.
- Take the time to make a clear connection between your chosen sport and STEM concept. One of the reasons sports lesson plans are so effective is they provide students with real-world examples. When creating your lesson, make sure these things are intertwined and easy for students to connect.
- Make sure that your lesson is hands-on. Kindergarten students are especially active and full of energy. Getting them moving during the lesson will improve their comprehension, retention, and engagement!
- Create a pre-test and post-test. This will help you measure a student’s literacy and comprehension of the lesson. Moreover, it allows you to review and assess a lesson’s effectiveness for future use.
If you want a more comprehensive guide to making a sports lesson plan for students of all ages, click here to read more.
Great Sports to Engage Kindergarten Students
Kindergarten-aged students are still developing both mentally and physically. This makes choosing a sport for your lesson plan a more difficult process that takes deeper thought. Because they are still developing their fine motor skills and may not understand the intricacies of each sport, it is best to find more “simple” sports to use. But which sports are simple? Below is a list of friendly sports to implement during your kindergarten sports lesson plan.
- Soccer
- Football
- Golf
- Basketball
Are you having a hard time connecting your chosen sport to a STEM concept? Here is an example to use as creative fuel for your lesson!
- Sport: Soccer
- STEM subject: Science
- Objective: Students will learn about the behavior of a soccer ball by planning and carrying out an investigation through practice. Students will determine which drills increase and decrease the speed of the ball for better ball control.
- Hands-On Implementation: Students will be placed in small groups. They will then take turns dribbling, kicking, and passing the ball to connect it to the lesson.
Kindergarten Sports Lesson Planning with STEM Sports
STEM Sports® believes in the importance of early implementation of STEM concepts. Our approach to effectively development quality pedagogy during early childhood education is defined and differentiated by applying the following standards to our curricula: Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and National Standards for K-12 Physical Education. In turn, providing a solid foundation for STEM learners
STEM Multi-Sport K-2 curriculum uses basketball, football, golf, and soccer to engage students in eight STEM lessons. These lessons use sports to introduce students to spatial awareness, motor skills, and movement patterns – while improving their STEM skills! When applicable, we have aligned lessons with NGSS, CCSS, and National Standards for K-12 Physical Education. If you are an educator or facilitator looking to implement sports lesson plans in your classroom, click here.
