Get
moving even in the winter: It does
young bodies (and brains)
good!
Parent Spot
for Parents of Preschool Students
Though
the weather outside can be downright frightful, it doesn’t have to
be a deterrent to staying active with your child. There are plenty
of fun activities families can do together during these chilly
months that not only build strong bodies but help develop important
motor skills that will ultimately lead to strong minds.
Karyn
Amico-Dziezynski, an occupational therapist, says that physical
activity strengthens the very muscles children use when learning to
read and write. "The more opportunities children have to
practice a variety of physical skills from a very young age, the
better prepared they will be to learn in school," she says.
Following are
some fun activities that build physical and motor skills. Children
should be encouraged to try new things but should never be forced
beyond their abilities. Use your child’s age, developmental level
and temperament to determine which of these activities seem
appropriate. If you are uncertain, talk with your pediatrician.
Trunk
and shoulder strength — needed to sit for lengths of time and
stabilize the arms for writing
- Use the playground as
weather permits.
- Do the wheelbarrow
walk—i.e. hold children by the ankles and let them walk with
their hands and arms — or for very young children, hold them
at the middle or by the thighs until their upper body strength
develops to support their entire body.
- Roll and push snowballs for
snowmen.
Hand and
finger strength — needed to write, hold pencils, cut, pinch and
pick up small objects
- Decorate cookies with
sprinkles.
- Squeeze colored glue from
bottles onto paper to make pictures.
- Squirt a spray bottle
filled with colored water onto the snow.
Perceptual
skills — these include the ability to recognize shapes and colors,
to find one object in the midst of others and to match (i.e., to
understand that one object is the same as another)
- Play with nesting blocks.
- Match pairs of socks when
mom or dad is folding laundry.
- Make a scavenger hunt out
of finding all of the circles, squares, triangles or other
shapes throughout the house.
- Play with building blocks.
- Eye coordination — needed
to read books and chalkboards.
- Play ball games that
involve rolling or catching.
- Have the child follow the
beam of a flash light as it is shined around a dark room.
Fine motor
coordination — needed to button, zip, manipulate objects and
refine writing skills
- Give children plenty of
opportunities to dress and undress themselves, including
zippering, buttoning and fastening.
- Make collages out of edible
objects such as raisins and O-shaped cereal (good for children
who are apt to put things in their mouths) or dried beans or
popcorn kernels for older children.
- Engage in fingerplaying
such as the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Where is Thumbkin?
- Use the dial on a play
phone.
- Push buttons on electronic
toys.
- Use lacing board and cubes.
Becoming
comfortable with movement
- Roll (This is great fun in
newly fallen snow).
- Use an indoor obstacle
course to get from one place to another (e.g., let’s follow
the leader to get to our snack in the dining room by climbing
over this pile of pillows, around the rocking chair, under the
coffee table and down the hall).
- Draw designs with finger on
plates covered with foods that can go in the mouth such as
whipped cream, pudding, yogurt or (for older children) on cookie
trays covered with dried rice or cornmeal.
For permission to reprint this
article, please contact the Capital Region BOCES Communications
Service by e-mailing us at dbushsuf@gw.neric.org.
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