By: Shape America
Moving and playing with young ones is an important part of learning at home. It’s fun to engage in activities that teach families the importance of physical activity for young children. SHAPE America (the Society of Health and Physical Educators) serves as the voice for 200,000+ health and physical education professionals across the United States and recognizes the importance of early childhood education.
The organization’s extensive community includes a diverse membership of health and physical educators, as well as advocates, supporters, and 50+ state affiliate organizations. SHAPE America envisions a nation where all children are prepared to lead healthy, physically active lives.
SHAPE America understands the benefits of regular physical activity include:
Reduces the risk of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
Assists in improved academic performance.
Helps children feel better about themselves.
Reduces the risk of depression and the effects of stress.
Helps children prepare to be productive, healthy members of society; and
Improves overall quality of life.
Their suggestions feature a variety of ideas, strategies, information, and resources for parents to use the space within their homes, the materials they have, and their limited time to model and encourage physical activity.
The following is for pre-K kids and is called “Do Three with Me.”
Get Ready
Space: Indoor or Outdoor Space; Small or Big Space
Stuff: Just your imagination!
Time: While preparing a meal, while getting ready in the morning, transitioning to bedtime, waiting for the bus… whenever you are waiting in line.
Get Set
Tell your child that you are going to say and do three movements/actions. Children will listen, remember, and repeat the same three actions.
Go
Start with the following three actions — reach up high, stretch out far, touch the floor — give all three directions, then repeat them with the actions, all as your child watches and listens carefully.
Now it is your child’s turn to do the actions. You can say them and even do them together if needed.
Other three action ideas:
Run and touch something blue, jump high into the air, spin on your tummy
Hop 5 times on your right, hop 5 times on your left, be as still as you can be
Wiggle your knees, bend your elbows, shake your tummy
Walk backward, touch something yellow, act like a monkey
As your child does each movement encourage him/her to say the action words out loud. This enhances language arts skills such as vocabulary and sequencing. Get your child involved. Ask him/her to add a movement.
Another activity for pre-k kids is called “Throwing Sponges.”
Get Ready
Space: Outdoors, side of a building such as the garage, house, or storage shed
Stuff: A Variety of different-sized sponges, a bucket of water
Time: Playtime, weekend fun
Get Set
Fill a bucket full of water
Put the sponges in the water
Find a spot or line from which your child could throw — make the distance far enough for a challenge but close enough for success.
Move the line closer or further away to vary the task
Go
Ask your child to take the sponge full of water out of the bucket and throw it as hard as he/she can at the wall.
Tell them to try to leave a wet mark on the wall.
Vary the task by having them throw the sponge underhand or overhand, and high, low, or medium on the wall.
Encourage your child to step at the wall, with their opposite foot as they throw. When children wring out the sponges, they will build the muscles in their hands and wrists that are necessary for fine motor (small muscle) tasks including drawing and writing.
SHAPE America provides many free resources for individual, non-commercial use; learn more at http://www.shapeamerica.org.
