Below are a few activities you can practice with your child in the event of school closing. Please feel free to email me for additional information in reference to your child.

Gross Motor

This area deals with the development of the large muscles of the body and the ability to use them in a controlled fashion, to accomplish the desired task. Activities below deal with movement, equilibrium, coordination, developing mature movement patterns and increasing strength and endurance.

Suggested Activities:

1. Crawl under low tables or chairs- should be low enough so that they must “belly crawl”.
2. Pushing Wars- child can be kneeling or standing. Adult may have to be kneeling. With arms straight, push against each others palms until someone is pushed down.
3. Standing balance—see how long they can stand on one foot without putting the other foot down. Then switch legs. Try with eyes opened or closed.
4. Jumping- using two feet together. Jump over obstacles, down from a curb. See how far the child can jump (standing broad jump).
5. Obstacle course- Set up a course for the child to crawl over, under, through, etc. You can use chairs, tables, pillows, etc. to create new obstacles courses each time.
6. Do as many sit ups as he/she can perform within 20 seconds. Repeat 2-3 times.
7. Get up from floor using a half-kneel- no hands helping.
8. Wheelbarrow walk.
9. Practice galloping or skipping.
10. Crawling races- crawl to a group of objects, pick one up and crawl back and put in container, crawl back to get another….
11. Tug of war.
12. Throwing rolled up socks of other lights objects into a target, container of basket for points. This could be done in many positions, i.e. standing, kneeling, half-kneeling, on all fours (quadruped) and lying on stomach.
13. Stepping in and out of hoops of tires different distances from the floor.
14. Kick a stationary or moving ball at a target. Try running toward the ball to kick it.
15. Catch and throw a large ball.