National School Sport Week: Youth Sport Trust promotes lifelong participation in sport

Children taking part in National School Sport Week in 2017

Children up and down the country are being encouraged to develop the "healthy habit of playing sport" as part of the National School Sport Week.

The celebration of school sport, organised by the Youth Sport Trust charity, takes place from 25-29 June.

Children from nursery age to teenagers will take part in a range of activities and schools can register and make use of a range of free resources here.

Recent figures showed one in 25 children aged 10-11 are severely obese.

The government is supporting National School Sport Week's aims to "inspire a generation and promote lifelong participation in sport".

"The benefits of being active and enjoying sport at school go far beyond the playing field," said children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi.

"High-quality PE at school can build lifelong skills of teamwork, character and resilience that will stand any young person in good stead for the future.

"We want to encourage all young people to get into the healthy habit of playing sport."

Tottenham Hotspur mascot Chirpy and CBBC's Hacker (far right) help launch National School Sport Week in north London

The BBC and Premier League's Super Movers initiative helped launch the National School Sport Week with Mascot Monday activities in primary schools.

There will be a special reception in Parliament on 27 June and focus on women's and girls' football a day later.