Explore Through Movement and Play with Preschooler

Explore Through Movement and Play with Your Preschooler

Activity #1: Tightrope Walking!

Note to parents and caregivers: Balance is essential for young children to learn how to walk and develop other important physical skills. But it’s not a given — balance is a learned skill that requires both physical and mental effort.

Materials:
Jump rope or a piece of string

Instructions:
Use a jump rope or piece of string to create a line that your toddler has to walk as if it were a balance beam, placing the heel of one foot in front of the toes of the other foot, step by step. Add toys on the line as obstacles, and challenge them to walk backwards.

Activity #2: Move on Paper Plates

Note to parents and caregivers: This activity encourages muscle strengthening in the hips and legs and balance skills. In addition, it can be very challenging for bilateral coordination skills and motor planning. Children need to provide just the right amount of pressure to slide the ice skating plates.

Materials:
Paper Plates, Carpeted service works best for sliding the plates

Instructions:
Buy some colored paper plates. Then get creative! Place them in a row (red, green, red, green) and have students step on just the red ones. Or have them get down on all fours and “skate” with a plate under each hand. Put the plates in a row to get your students moving around the room. Put the plates far apart for big steps or put them close together for tiny steps.