A SPORTS education company is challenging Bradford primary school children to stay active during the lockdown with just some simple household items.

Sporting Age, which is based in Huddersfield, has set-up the "Stay At Home Challenge" which involves taking on sports challenges, getting a score, practicing, then coming back to beat that score.

It is designed to help children continue to improve their level of ability at movement skills such as running, jumping and throwing – known as fundamental movement skills – while they are off school during the lockdown.

The beauty of the programme is it only requires easy-to-get household goods or items in order to complete it - from a tin of tuna, to pairs of socks.

Shaun Fox, managing director at Sporting age, explained exactly how the "Stay At Home Challenge" works.

He said: “The Stay At Home Challenge is all about children having lots of fun while using everyday household items to help them learn and develop their fundamental movement skills while they’re not in class.

“At the end of the challenge, they will get their results so they can see for themselves the progress they have made.

“It’s really simple for parents to help their children get involved, and we’ve created some easy to follow videos that demonstrate exactly what to do to set everything up for the challenge.

“The children carry out three simple skills tests – a speed bounce, a target throw and a fast feet challenge."

All three tests can be completed either indoors or outdoors.

The speed bounce test requires a rolled-up towel if in you are in Years One to Four, or two towels if you are in Year Five or Six.

The towel should be placed on the ground, with yourself stood on one side of it.

If you have two rolled-up towels, simply place those next to each other.

You will need somebody to time you, as you jump from side to side over the towel or towels for 20 seconds.

Each jump over the towel or towels counts as one.

Once the 20 seconds is up, note down your score.

The second test is the target throw and requires two rolled-up towels, three tins of food (such as tuna) or toilet rolls, a tape measure and 10 pairs of rolled-up socks.

If you don't have a tape measure, two metres is just over six-and-a-half sheets of A4 paper.

The towels need to be placed together to form a circle formation, which will be the target.

You then need to measure two metres back from the circle and place your first can or toilet roll, before placing another one metre to the right and another one minute to the left of the centre point.

Five socks should be placed on the left point and five on the right.

You will need somebody to time you, as you start at the centre point, and move from side-to-side

while trying to throw the balls of socks into the target with an underarm throw.

You have 20 seconds and any socks that land in the target then bounce out can be counted.

Once the 20 seconds is up, note down your score.

Finally, the fast feet test requires no equipment, but you still need somebody to time the challenge.

If you are in Year One or Two, you will start with your feet together and then jump and spread your feet - which counts as one point - then jump and move your feet back together for two points.

If you are in Year Three to Six you will start on one leg and then jump to two legs spread apart for a point, before jumping back onto one leg for another point.

You have 20 seconds to do as many as possible.

Mr Fox said: "Parents or guardians then submit the scores from each of the three tests online.

“Our software then analyses the scores and generates an individual result for each child, known as their sporting age.

“This indicates where the child’s level of ability at the movement skills required to complete the three challenges sits when compared to their actual age.

“Each child gets a fun programme of additional movement skills to practice at home for two weeks, before re-taking the three original skills tests to see if they can improve their sporting age.”

Sporting Age usually provides this kind of programme within actual schools.

To date, the team has worked with more than 9,000 children in primary schools in Kirklees to determine their sporting age and improve their fundamental movement skills.

Mr Fox said: “At Roberttown town Junior & Infant School in Liversedge, we provided baseline assessments for 200 children in six classes.

"We then delivered stage appropriate lesson plans and interventions for the children over and eight week period, before carrying out assessments at the end of the eight weeks to demonstrate the progress the pupils had made.

"The results showed that 93 per cent of the total pupils on the programme had improved in at least one area of fundamental movement skills, and in one of the classes, 100 per cent of the pupils had improved in at least one area."

But, due to the coronavirus pandemic the company has had adapt and take the challenge online.

M Fox said: “We’ve taken a programme we usually deliver in schools and used it to create something that is fun, challenging and helps to develop primary school children in their own homes until they can get back in the classroom.”

You can find out more and enter at: www.sportingage.co.uk/challenge/