Babies and young children were born to move, they love being active and we should encourage them to move around freely as often as possible!
Physical activity is essential during the early years of a child’s life as it helps not only with their physical development but also helps them to develop their social and emotional skills. 80% of brain development also takes place by the age of 3 which is fully supported by Physical Activity.
Children who learn to be active when they are younger are more likely to continue taking part in sport and physical activity when they are an adult.
Why Move?
What is Active Start?
Active Start is a programme created to inspire and increase activity levels in the early years through activity and active play. It helps children to be healthy, to learn and be active for life. It does this by supporting practitioners, teachers and families to be active together more often, strengthening physical literacy and the readiness to learn.
Active Start Annual Report 2021-2022 (pdf, 8339KB)
Active Start Annual Report 2020-2021 (pdf, 16840KB)
Active Start for Parents & Carers
ACTIVE START for practitioners
Did you know?
Find out more:
Early Years Physical Activity Guidelines
Early Years Physical Literacy Framework
This programme has been developed by Active Cumbria thanks to funding from Sellafield.
An introduction to Active Start (pdf, 7235KB)