While indoor activities that involve sitting and concentrating on a task, such as reading or writing definitely have merit, it is also very important that children receive adequate physical activity. In fact, preschoolers, ranging from three to five years of age, should build up to 60 minutes of endurance activities (activities that makes one’s heart beat faster) every day.
Children need to learn basic physical skills in the years between six months and six years. To aid parents and caregivers in meeting these requirements, altering some familiar indoor activities or introducing some new indoor games that incorporate more physical activity will benefit children immensely and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Indoor Activities that Facilitate Gross Motor Skills
It’s a Zoo Out There
Have one person be the “zookeeper”. The zookeeper calls out an animal and everyone moves around the room just like that animal. When the zookeeper says “feeding time”, everyone moves back to the zookeeper imitating their animal and waits for the next animal to be called.
It’s Never Too Late to Skate
On a carpeted area, clear some space to make a “rink”. Get two pieces of paper (8 ½” x 11”), and put one under each foot. With shoes on, stride forward and backward as if you were skating. Have skating races, create a path to follow or skate to music.
Strike up the Band
Create a marching band and “march” around the house using real or make-believe instruments.
Obstacle Course
On a carpeted area, create an obstacle course by using boxes, chairs, pillows and other household items to jump over, crawl under and move around.
Walk to the Rhythm of the Beat
Play music and move to the rhythm: walk, run, hop, gallop and jump. Go down low, reach up high. Walk on the spot, on one’s toes and on one’s heels. Walk around with big steps, little steps, light quick easy steps, heavy quick steps or long slow steps.
Indoor Activities that Transform Traditional Sitting Games into Physical Exercise
Activate Board Games
Take a favourite board game and add some physical activity to it. For example, if a game uses colours, choose a physical activity for each colour. Every time a player lands on that colour, everyone does the activity.
Time to Act
Act out a sport and have the child guess what sport you are “playing” (for example, basketball, hockey, soccer, baseball, volleyball, swimming). To make this activity more active, have the child mirror the activity while you act it out. Try again with another sport. Take turns acting.
Story Time
Have the child pretend to be a character in a book and move to the action words in the story. Act out songs, stories and poetry.
Physical activity builds stronger bones and strengthens muscles, promotes flexibility, strengthens the heart, and enhances healthy growth and development. Whether indoors or outdoors, becoming active early in life increases the chances that young children will learn to move skilfully, and forms the foundation for sport, dance and exercise activities later in life.
Sources
Ideas to Get Your Family Active by Active Healthy Kids Canada, 2009
Have a Ball! A Toolkit for Physical Activity and the Early Years by Best Start Resource Centre, 2009
Moving and Growing Series by Canadian Child Care Federation, 2009
Daniella Grsic - As a wife, mother, educator and business owner, I feel that I have a wealth of knowledge that I am eager to share so that I may inform, ...
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