KIDDO program to expand, supporting 950 WA early learning services

Popular physical activity program KIDDO, a specialist offering from the University of Western Australia, is expanding its offering to 950 early learning services in Western Australia with funding support from Healthway and Lotterywest.

Expected to benefit more than 25,000 WA children, the expansion will have a focus on lower socioeconomic communities, and will be delivered directly to early learning services by a team of specialist practitioners. 

KIDDO was developed to address concerns that Australian children are not getting the recommended amount of physical activity per day (three hours), and works by supporting educators to deliver physical activity programs. 

Physical activity in the early years is critical for a child’s health and development and brings many benefits including the development of gross motor skills, increased physical fitness, lowered risk of being overweight or obese, along with improved confidence, social skills, concentration and a decreased risk of anxiety and depression. 

Goodstart Early Learning is one of the many early learning providers who will benefit from the expansion, with WA state manager, Mr Todd Dawson, saying the benefit of the KIDDO program for children and educators is immense.

“KIDDO is helping the educators at Goodstart’s centres ensure physical activity is a key component of each day for every child,” he said.

“Just as important as developing the children’s gross motor skills, they love the activities, which build their confidence and motivation to be active.”

KIDDO will be travelling all over WA in 2022 and 2023 to share the program with parents, teachers and early learning educators. All services will get the opportunity to attend workshops and demonstration sessions, access KIDDO’s online platform and provide their staff with everything they need to provide fun, active programs for children. 

To learn more, please visit the KIDDO website, here.