Friday, March 15, 2013

Balloon Tennis, Soccer, Hockey

All you need for this is a few balloons and some sort of racquet. I used foam circles and dowel rods, a little double sided tape to stick it together. This equaled big safe fun!

Create a goal, or just let them free play to music, instant success!

Big muscle movement and tons of smiles!
Give it a try!







Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Color Sort, Skip


The concept is SIMPLE, kids love to sort/match, kids love to move... add them together and what a good combo!

Materials -- 4 buckets of one of each color, then various objects of those colors. See picture below for ideas. I used bean bags, foam hands, relay baton sticks, fleece balls, plastic food, and shakey eggs.... However, the sky is the limit as to what you can use. Could even just use toys in the playroom or laundry? Feel free to comment below with additional ideas.

We created a home base, where the items were mixed together in a large laundry basket. Children were instructed to skip to each bucket, not run, not walk, but skip and drop one item in the correct colored bucket! If they are unfamiliar with skipping this is a great time to introduce this loco-motor skill or any other of your choice. Really young (18 months-3 years old) may need to simply sort the items, adding loco-motors might be too confusing.

Play several times :)








Monday, February 4, 2013

Tree Pose Freeze!

All you need for this game is enough vinyl spots (cloth placemats or carpet squares work good too) so each child has their own and music. I love "Under the Shady Tree" by Laurie Berkner Band.

Show students "Tree Pose" see yoga card in this post, if you are unsure. Instruct kids to dance around room (various locomotors: skip, hop, run, walk, crawl) then when music stops, find a spot and
freeze in tree pose. Hold tree pose until the music starts again. Lengthen and shorten the time of holding pose based on your group's abilities.

Great activity that requires listening, balance, and body control! A favorite for many ages.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Paper Plate Snow Ski

Paper plates? Check!
Imagination? Check!
Energetic Kids? Check!
That's all you need!

Let their imagination's run wild while they play with their paper plate skis. Older toddlers/preschoolers can master them on their feet while younger ones may need to start crawling with them on their hands.

To start:
1. Designate one area of the room as the valley. Have them ski to Snow Valley.
2. Once there have them stop for some pretend hot cocoa before heading back up the mountain.
3. Hop on the "chair lift" and climb the mountain- each time they head back up have them carry their skis and preform a different locomotor skill. (Skip,hop,gallop, walk backwards,etc)
4. Repeat! As many times as you like :)

*tip: If you don't live in an area of the country where snow skiing is popular, you may want to begin the game looking at a book or pictures of people snow skiing.

Good Luck!

As always I welcome comments and suggestions.



Saturday, January 26, 2013

Snow Day Action Dice

Want a winter warm-up to encourage movement and fun! Try out the Snow Day action dice. In an earlier post I showed you an action dice, these are great because they can be adapted in SO MANY WAYS!! In fact, I am saving square Kleenex boxes to make them for all seasons! :)

Here is a photo of the print-out used to make this. ENJOY! Feel free to share other ideas for more action dice.





Friday, January 25, 2013

Snow is Falling!!!

Grab a couple LARGE bags of cotton balls and a parachute. Let their imagination run wild! Find a great song, song one together, and then let them lay on the parachute and make a "snow angel"! Guaranteed to be tons if fun on a cold winter day!





Saturday, January 5, 2013

Action Dice

Several times on Pinterest I have seen a dice game similar to this, so I decided to give it a shot.

Love how it turned out.

1. Simply wrapped a watch box, square box, in colored paper.
2. Cut and glued on my action cues.
3. Covered the box in clear packing tape, helps "laminate" it and keep it strong.

Love it!!! Can't wait to use it in class.

Here is where I found the animal themed cards this time.... http://lilmoptop.blogspot.com/2011/04/animal-command-cards.html?m=1 -- Another great blogger!




Thursday, January 3, 2013

All you do is play? GREAT!

HEALTHY STARTS-- THE PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY! 

At Healthy Starts, LLC we develop each movement class with the idea that the children should feel like they are playing. Playing is how children learn. We provide moments to learn as they run, skip, jump, chase, and gather toys from various areas of the room. Does your movement program feel like organized play time? Yes, GREAT!!! You are on the right track. Check out this great article from HealthyChildren.org - They have a great Facebook page as well. (from American Academy of Pediatrics)

"Play is how young children start to get ready for school.

They learn how to feel comfortable being with other children, and how to be a good friend.

Play gets children ready for learning—paying attention to adults, playing nicely with others, and feeling comfortable being away from their parents.

Pretend play is one way children learn about difficult feelings like anger and fear."

See more http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/fitness/pages/Playing-is-How-Toddlers-Learn.aspx


PLAY ON!!!