About Kiddo

Getting kids aged 3 – 8 moving. Turning them into good sports. Helping them to have fun. And developing the
skills, motivation and confidence to be active for life. That’s what KIDDO is all about.

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Welcome to KIDDO

And welcome to a specialist program developed by academics from Exercise and Sports Science in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Western Australia.

KIDDO (formerly known as Uni-Active) was launched in 2014 to help build fundamental movement skills in Australian children.

Designed to help develop ‘physical literacy’ in children aged 3 to 8, KIDDO provides information, practical resources and skills for parents, teachers and early learning educators.

Over 6,000 children and 25 primary schools and early childhood education and care centres have taken part in KIDDO programs since 2014.

Meet the team

Ms Amanda Derbyshire

Program Director

Amanda is a sport and exercise scientist and researcher at UWA. Amanda has overseen the development, delivery and rollout of KIDDO since its inception in 2014 to where it is now. Amanda has extensive experience in the development and management of health promotion projects in both the University and not-for-profit sectors.

Dr Michael Rosenberg

Associate Professor

Michael’s primary research interest is the complex interaction between children, their families, and engagement in physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Michael is also an expert in health promotion evaluation. He has acted as an expert consultant to the World Health Organisation, the National Heart Foundation and the Health Department of WA.

Dr Ashleigh Thornton

Senior Research Fellow

Ashleigh’s research has a strong focus on factors that influence motor development and physical activity in children. Ashleigh is an advocate for knowledge translation, and has contributed to the development of evidence based physical activity programs for children, as well as providing professional development to physical educators, early childhood educators, and allied health professionals.

Dr Hayley Christian

Associate Professor

Hayley’s research focusses on improving children’s physical activity levels, health and well-being through identifying and testing strategies to create healthy early childhood education and care environments. Hayley leads the PLAYCE (Play Spaces & Environments for Children’s Physical Activity) program of research and is a Fellow at the Telethon Kids Institute.

Dr Rebecca Braham

Senior Lecturer

Rebecca has been involved in research and teaching in the area of physical activity and health for nearly 20 years. Her research focuses on the translation of age appropriate skills development to the population and understanding how to best provide expertise and support for physical activity participation in the general population.