PLAYfun

What is PLAYfun?

PLAYfun provides an assessment of key movement skills performed by the child. The tool itself is made up of 18 tasks that cover the child’s physical abilities. Each ability is graded on a four-point rubric with the following categories: Initial, Emerging, Competent and Proficient.  

To simplify things, we’ve broken down PLAYfun into five subsections:

  1. Running
  2. Locomotor
  3. Object Control – Upper Body
  4. Object Control – Lower Body
  5. Balance, Stability & Body Control

Who can use PLAYfun?

Since PLAYfun involves the assessment of specific skills, the evaluator must have some education in movement and motion analysis. This could include NCCP-certified coaches, exercise professionals, physiotherapists, athletic therapists or other sport and recreation practitioners. These individuals must have the knowledge to accurately assess the child’s technique, and must be able to identify gaps in the child’s development when assessing each task.

For a parent: PLAYfun provides a thorough assessment of your child’s skills and abilities. By having a trained professional assess your child using PLAYfun, you will gain insight into their child’s strengths, weaknesses and physical development. Use this information to create goals and track improvement.

As a coach, physiotherapist, athletic therapist, exercise professional or recreation professional: Use PLAYfun in conjunction with the other PLAY tools to create a baseline assessment of the child’s current level of physical literacy. You and the child should mutually establish realistic goals (where the child wants to be) and a manageable process to reach them.

Directions

  1. Ask the child to perform each of the skills/tasks listed in the first column of the PLAYfun Form.
  2. Observe the child performing the skill and rate each skill based on the four categories provided (Initial, Emerging, Competent and Proficient).
  3. Take Action: View the list of ways to take action in your PLAYfun Workbook or on the registered side of our website.
  4. Remember to use the PLAYfun tool along with the other PLAY tools to see all perspectives of the child’s level of physical literacy.

Additional Information

Confidence

On the right-hand side of the tool, you’ll see a column labelled “Confidence”. In this column, indicate whether the child had low, medium or high confidence when performing each task.

Comprehension

The comprehension boxes are used to track the child’s knowledge of each task and confidence while performing them.

  • Prompt: If the child needed the assessor to give them an additional prompt (outside of the instructions) (e.g. “Go on. You can do it.”), or to incite them to perform the skill/task, place a tick in the “Prompt” column.
  • Mimic: If the child waited for one of their peers to perform the skill first, place a tick in the “Mimic” column.
  • Describe: If the child asked the assessor to describe the skill/task, place a tick in the “Describe” column.
  • Demo: If the child asked the assessor to demonstrate the skill/task, place a tick in the “Demo” column.

Important:

Each question uses a 100mm scale so that the assessor may place a mark anywhere along the scale within each box. This allows the assessor to be more specific when defining the child’s ability for each task.

Remember that the top score for proficient is the very best anyone could be at the skill, regardless of age.

Example: This observer has placed a black mark on the left-most side of the “Competent” box to identify that Child A has only just acquired the skill. This score is worth 51/100. An orange mark has been placed farther to the right side of the “Competent” box to indicate that Child B is more competent than Child A, who has just acquired the skill. This second score would be worth 63/100.