Kicking is a simple skill most adults take for granted. It requires balance and high levels of eye-foot coordination. Below are pictures of the first graders learning to kicking from a stationary position. Eventually, we worked up to kicking a rolled ball, which is actually a second grade standard.
You can see students working on kicking for distance, or kicking as hard as they possibly can. In the following class, we learned the difference between kicking for distance and kicking for accuracy, how you change the force of your kick and narrow your aim to a specific target.
We had the opportunity to talk about all the places we could use this skill including soccer, football, kickball and rugby. Then we looked deeper into the actual movement. We discussed how eye-foot coordination is also needed for running on a sidewalk, playing on the playground, and walking up and down stairs. One student said, "you never know when you're going to need to kick something if it starts rolling at you."
Good job first grade!
