Handstands aren't a problem for 12-year-old Geordie Ellis but other kids aren't so lucky

Educators baulking at children not being able to roly-poly are missing the point of physical exercise, an expert in teaching physical education says.

Palmerston North YMCA Tiny Ys co-ordinator Charleen Kirkpatrick said a growing number of children in the region could not do simple gymnastic moves.

She said she knew of an 11-year-old who could not do a forward roll.

"I was really surprised. I thought it was a natural ability to do a forward roll," she said.

"He couldn't get the concept of tucking his body and flipping forward. It was amazing something so simple was so hard for him."

Kirkpatrick said the increasing number of children unable to perform a roly-poly or handstand was noticeable.

The YMCA's sports co-ordinator, Carla Bennett, said there was an emphasis on academic study over sport.

"Parents or people are so focused on where their kids are academically they forget about just going outside and skipping or rolling about," she said.

"It's all about 'my child can read and write at six'."

Dr Wayne Smith, a senior lecturer at Auckland University's School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, said although play was important to a child's development, whether they could do a forward roll was not that important.

"There's an important difference between 'play' and what people call 'fundamental movement skills' - forward rolls, handstands, and kicking and throwing a ball," he said.

"Those skills are enablers of play, but the far more important thing is simply play - and that's for participation and enjoyment purposes. I think emphasis should be on play."

Smith, a specialist in biomechanics and skill acquisition, said he had not noticed a shift in parents' focus to academic achievement, but agreed there was a need for children to engage in physical activity.

"It allows them to develop as an all-round person - to teach them about who they are, how they fit in and what they enjoy," he said.

"Why is it so important that that person needs to do a forward roll? There is nothing inherently valuable about a forward roll, but there is if that forward roll fulfils some sort of life-fulfilling behaviour."

Massey University physical education senior lecturer Dennis Slade said a competency barrier kicked in at age 10 or 11 and if children had not developed physical competence by then, they would isolate themselves.

"The ongoing effect of that is when they are going on from primary to secondary school they become bystanders, and they find fantastic ways to not participate in activity," he said.

"Or they avoid playing games or taking part in recreation. That's why it's so important to make young people competent in movement."

He said that if children were active they would participate in society as adults rather than be antisocial and introverted.