In Lithuania, physical activity is promoted from kindergarten onwards

The 8th edition of the “Lithuanian Children Games” was held a few weeks ago with a record number of participants. This is the result of a long-standing collaboration between the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee (LTOK) and RIUKKPA, which has its roots in kindergarten.

Audrone Vizbariene, President of the Republican Association of Preschool Physical Education Teachers (Lith. RIUKKPA)

The project aims at not only introducing pre-school children (1-6 years) to physical activities that are attractive to them but also at involving children into them, thus promoting the joy of sport, socialising, experiencing good emotions and enhancing their health from an early age.

As many as 44,000 participants were invited to take part in remote sports activities, 426 participating pre-school establishments organised sports festivals inside their institutions, and the final phase was marked by the organisation of 10 major sports festivals. The final events were based on different relay competitions. Teams competed in the festivals in a series of sporting challenges designed by the organisers to develop children’s overall physical fitness.

“Acquire knowledge, develop skills”

“The growing number of participants every year is not only encouraging but also testifies that we are working in the right direction. This year, 44,000 children participated in the project’s activities from all over Lithuania, who not only tried different forms of physical activity, but also experienced many good emotions” Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, Olympic champion (shooting) and LTOK President, expressed her delight with the season.

During the final stage of the project, the patron of the project First Lady of the country Diana Nausėdienė, Olympic medalists, Olympians and the bestLithuanian athletes came to support and inspire the young athletes. The eighth season of the Lithuanian Children Games was extremely intensive. After a two-year break, we could bring back live events: seminars for educators, festivals in institutions and major festivals in six Lithuanian cities. During all these events, the participants had the opportunity to interact and collaborate, to showcase their abilities, to gain knowledge and to develop their competences.

I am pleased with the active support and participation of parents, the creativity of educators in organizing festivals of institutions and the whole team of organisers of Lithuanian Children Games, who make it possible to organize events of any scale and any format. I hope that next year’s project will involve an even larger number of pre-school educational institutions, the participants will be as creative and responsible, and the support team will be as numerous and active.

Find this article and more in our special magazine “Sport and ODD”