Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Dodging
Defining the Concept and Its Importance
Dodging is a locomotor skill that requires high degree of balance and stability, it is an extension of the side gallop and sprint run which incorporates dynamic, fluid, and coordinated movement (Davy et al., 2000). It involves change in direction with speed to evade, chase or flee from an opponent. Since dodging is a complex locomotor skill, it is encouraged to be introduced to children around the age of 6-7 and around the age of 9-10 is when children should be fine tuning the skill (Kiddo, 2019). It is common if children are taking a bit longer to succeed in this skill due to its complexity.
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations
Skill components: (Kiddo, 2019)
The child should change in direction by bending the knee and pushing off the outside foot, change of direction occurs in one step, body weight is lowered (center of gravity) during change of direction, eyes focused forward, and dodge repeated equally well on both sides.
Common errors when learning the skill: (Kiddo, 2019)
Children who are in the emerging level may be doing it too slow with too many small steps, looking down at the ground, not enough bend in their knees, and the whole body turns to face the intended direction of travel.
Teaching cues: (Kiddo, 2019)
It is important as a childhood educator to provide appropriate cues such as, have their head up and look straight ahead, have a low body position, bend, push, and turn, use only one step to change direction rather than multiple small steps, and to fake the opponent as a way of getting free you step and lean one way but go the other way.
Teaching strategies based on their development level: (Kiddo, 2019)
Emerging level: To avoid breaking down the skill but rather teach it as a whole skill, setting up markers in zig-zag formation and have the children touch markers with the outside of their foot.
Developing: This is a chance to have children experiment with different styles of dodging, what it feels like to have a wide base of support compared to a narrow base of support, and experience center of gravity with the difference between having their body upright or having it lowered. To set up obstacle courses that involve dodging between markers.
Acquired level: At this level we are fine-tuning the skill dodging, we can do so by increasing the speed of the dodge and get them to participate in games where they can try double dodges where a child will be required to dodge in one direction and then quickly the other direction.
Practical Applications
Non-locomotor movements, such as bending, twisting, turning, and swaying are good lead-up activities to dodging (Davy et al., 2000). It may be a good idea to incorporate these movements into a warm up before getting them to participate in dodging activities.
Toilet Tag: (Kiddo, 2019)
Just like every other game of tag, it can be played with 4+ participants where depending on the size of group 2 or more children are nominated as taggers. After a child has been tagged, they are to go down on one knee and place one arm out on the side bent at the elbows acting as a “toilet”. In order to free a “toilet” another player must come and “flush the toilet” by moving their hand down towards the ground and make a flushing sound. Swap taggers every few minutes to keep it fun and exciting. This game is suitable for children ages 3-8 years old where they are either at the emerging or developing level of the skill development.
Toilet tag is a fun way to encourage the development of a complex locomotor skill, dodging, without being too challenging and not solely focusing on the movement itself. It would be considered boring for children if they are learning about dodging from a drill such as avoiding the cones. This activity emphasizes on having fun, expanding their imagination and being physically active, meanwhile working on their dodging skills. As children are running away from taggers, they are dodging from them naturally without thinking too hard about the movement skill. This game allows children to work on improving their locomotor skill, dodging, naturally. To avoid running into the “toilets” players must dodge them. In this game not only are players dodging from taggers but also from stationary players – “toilets”.
No equipment is needed for this game and it can be played both outdoors and indoors. It is a good idea to switch up the environment occasionally, so children learn to dodge on different surfaces. It could potentially be harder to dodge outdoors running on grass as it may be slippery, whereas the gym floor would have more grip allowing them to come to a stop easier.
To make it less difficult, suitable for children at the emerging level, we can switch up the locomotor skill to skipping and galloping. These skills act as a foundation to develop the skill dodging, as mentioned above dodging is an extension to side gallop and sprint run. To make it more difficult, there is the option of nominating more taggers or even have the coach be the tagger. This way it is important that players are dodging effectively with a quick change of direction. Making the area of the game smaller would make it easier for taggers to tag other players but it makes it more difficult for players who are dodging and avoiding being tagged. If the area is smaller the space is more crowded which means the players would have to dodge more frequently and constantly changing their direction, more suitable for children at the developing or acquired level. It is important to find an appropriate area size and the number of taggers depending on the age group or the level of their developmental skill, either at emerging, developing, or acquired level, to find the perfect amount of challenge for them. Keep in mind an activity can be discouraging if it is overly challenging or too easy for children.
Dodgeball: (Schleyer, 2010)
This game is suitable for children ages 9+ where they are at the developing or acquired level of skill development for dodging. By this age they should have acquired the skills such as, catch, overarm throw, and sprint run, which are some other fundament movement skills incorporated in this game.
At this age, the toilet tag game previously mentioned above may be considered too easy for these children. Dodgeball is a game that is fast paced with more of a challenge. The competitive nature of the game keeps it fun and exciting. The purpose of this game is to allow children to explore different styles of dodging, they may choose to have a narrower base of support to dodge to prevent their leg getting hit from a ball. It also allows them to explore double dodges as balls may be flying at them in multiple directions, in that case they may need to dodge in one direction and quickly the other direction with speed. Overtime the movement skill of dodging should become more efficient with speed and more fluidity in the movement.
This game can be played both indoors and outdoors using 6 rubber-coated foam balls. It is usually played in a rectangle court divided in half by the center line where the foam balls are lined up. Having a neutral zone about 4 feet wide extending across the center to separate both sides and the attack line is marked 10 feet and parallel from the center line.
Dodgeball is played with 2 teams of 6+ depending on the size of the court, with the option of making it as big or small of a game as you wish. The objective of the game is to get all your opponents out of the game without being eliminated yourself. The elimination game is played until all players of the opposing team have been knocked out of the game. The first team to eliminate all of its opponents is the winner. Each game has a 3 minute time limit, if neither team has eliminated their opponents at the end of the 3 minute mark, then the team with the most players still in the game is the winner. To start the game with an opening rush, have 6 or more foam balls lined up in the center line and have the two teams position themselves behind their respective end lines. On the official’s signal, both teams run to the center court to get as many balls as possible and bring it back to their side of the court. They can start using the balls to “attack” their opponents once they’re behind the attack line. Players are eliminated if they’re hit with the ball below the shoulders, drops a ball that’s thrown to them, an opponent catches their throw, stepping out of bound, crossing over the neutral line, and hitting an opponent anywhere above the shoulders. To avoid getting eliminated players should dodge from the balls being thrown at them or if they have possession of a ball, they can use it to block a ball coming at them. To keep the game moving and prevent a team from stalling, a team cannot have all 6 balls on their side for more than 5 seconds, otherwise they lose possession of all the balls on their side.
Having a smaller court will increase the difficulty of dodging, due to having a smaller space to dodge from a ball without stepping out of bound which may result in a faster elimination process. Increase the amount of balls in the game also increases the difficulty to dodge. More than one ball may come in your direction at a time which means a player is required to dodge quickly in different directions to avoid getting eliminated.
Summary
Dodging is a more complex fundamental movements skill (FMS) that requires more time to develop (O’Brien et al., 2015;2016). A proficiency in FMS lays the foundation for being physically active and developing more complex motor skills (Wick et al., 2017). With the improvements of these motor skills, the opportunity to develop perceptual, social, and cognitive skills is enhanced. Non-locomotor movements such as bending, twisting, turning, and swaying are good lead-up activities to dodging (Davy et al., 2000). The developmental age and level of the child will influence how the skill is executed.
References
Davy, J., Davis, R., Doorn, P., & Atkins, D. (2000). Get skilled: get active. NSW Department of Education and Training. Retrieved November 9th, 2020, from http://shellharbour5b.weebly.com/uploads/8/1/7/5/8175645/wholebooklet.pdf
Kiddo. (2019). Dodging. The University of Western Australia. Retrieved November 9th, 2020, from https://kiddo.edu.au/skills/dodging
Kiddo. (2019). Toilet tag. The University of Western Australia. Retrieved November 9th, 2020, from https://kiddo.edu.au/activities/toilet-tag
O’ Brien, W., Belton, S., & Issartel, J. (2015;2016;). Fundamental movement skill proficiency amongst adolescent youth. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 21(6), 557-571. doi:10.1080/17408989.2015.1017451
Schleyer, C. (2010). Dodgeball games. Kids Sports Activities. Retrieved November 9th, 2020, from http://www.kids-sports-activities.com/dodgeball-games.html
Wick, K., Leeger-Aschmann, C. S., Monn, N. D., Radtke, T., Ott, L. V., Rebholz, C. E., . . . Kriemler, S. (2017). Interventions to promote fundamental movement skills in childcare and kindergarten: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine (Auckland), 47(10), 2045-2068. doi:10.1007/s40279-017-0723-1