As parents we know that our baby will go through several stages on the road to walking. From backwards inchworm, they'll progress through a variety of stages; such as crawling, pulling up, the sideways shuffle along furniture, the two-step lurch/fall and finally they'll take some independent steps. Somewhere between 9-18 months most babies will have, in a cute, ambling sort of way, "mastered" walking.
 
As parents, this is one of our first lessons learned about physical development, and we shouldn't forget it. The same process will happen again and again, for running, jumping, throwing, catching and so on.
 
For almost every skill, children need to go through a series of developmental stages. The key word is "needs" - even if it was always possible, there is no benefit to trying to rush them straight from beginner to mature skill development. They might appear to have "mastered" a skill but they'll have missed all the valuable experimentation along the way that serves to strengthen fundamental movement attributes such as coordination, strength, flexibility, balance and speed.
 
So when you have your young child out throwing a ball around, save yourself the frustration of showing them how to step forward with the opposite foot, follow through etc. That's a mature skill, and you're leapfrogging over some very necessary stages.
 
It is important that children master fundamental movement skills before learning fundamental sports skills. What's the difference? Take kicking as an example. Around age three, children explore the basic kicking action, kick a variety of balls, kick at a target, kick as far or as high as they can etc. - this is the fundamental movement skill. Introduction to kicking as a fundamental sport skill (with some gentle instruction and practice) usually starts between 4-6.  Children learn how hard they have to kick the ball to get it to a team member, and how to increase passing accuracy by kicking with the inside of the foot etc.
 
Have patience, mastering a physical skill does not come all at once. Instead of aiming straight for mature skill development, try helping your child to master the stage they are at and slowly introduce the next most mature version of that skill.
 
Resist the temptation to say, "Just watch me" - most children under 6-8 are not developmentally able to watch what you do and accurately translate that into physical movement.
 
Pay attention: a disinterested, disengaged or frustrated child is telling you "I'm not ready" - take a break and hang back from the next stage for a bit.
 
The most important thing to remember is that fun is an essential ingredient in keeping your child active.

If you want to learn more, a great resource for parents is Sport Canada's "Developing Physical Literacy".