Parent Corner

Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends three hours of physical activity per day for preschoolers? Kids need plenty of opportunities each day to practice motor skills, including climbing, running, dancing, and playing with a ball or beanbags. Here are some simple ways to incorporate physical activity into your preschooler's play time.

1. Ball play: Experiment with different ways of passing the ball back and forth; rolling, bouncing, kicking and tossing. Practicing catching the ball will help your child develop coordination.

2. Save those Amazon boxes and make a cardboard tunnel to play in and crawl through. Kids love playing in boxes!

3. Dancing: Put on your favorite dance music and dance with your child. Use scarves or ribbons to make it even more fun!

4. Indoor obstacle course: Use couch cushions, kitchen chairs, hula hoops, and whatever else looks fun to practice going over, under, around and through. Talk about these positional words as your child moves through the course.

5. Make a chalk race track on your driveway, and have your child ride a tricycle, big wheel or scooter.

6. When the weather warms, water play is great fun! Swimming, running through the sprinkler, and helping wash the car will be great fun for your child.

7. Play tag or chase. Encourage your child to move in different ways; running, jumping, hopping on one foot, shuffling sideways, or bear crawling will build coordination, strength and endurance.