Gross Motor
Gross Motor play is any activity where your child is moving his or her entire body. Young children need to engage in gross motor play everyday to support their learning. Here are some examples of fun things you can do with your child both indoors and outdoors.
Nature Walks
Although we need to stay home during this time, you can talk walks in your neighborhood with your child. Use this time not only to provide them with exercise, but to promote their language and sense of curiosity by asking them to find different items either by color or by shape. Use open ended questions such as "I wonder if we will find anything that is the color red?" Or "I wonder how many different colors we can find on our walk?"
Nature Walk.docx
When you return from your walk, you can ask your child to remember what colors you discovered together. If you find natural wonders such as sticks, leaves, or pinecones, save them to use in an art project or place in your sensory table or bin.
Expanding Your Nature Walk
Young children are born scientists and engage in STEAM activities daily from the moment they are born. As this pdf and this picture book show, nature walks provide rich experiences for young children to wonder and explore the world around them.
The Listening Walk.pdfBalloon Tennis
This video clip is for parents and caregivers to create a gross motor activity with a balloon and a homemade “racket”. This game can be done individually or in a small group. Parents and caregivers should closely supervise their child/children anytime they are using balloons. Only use balloons with your child if they are NOT allergic to latex. It is difficult to find latex-free balloons appropriate for this activity.
Visual Motor Integration Through Gross Motor Play
Most of us think about visual motor integration in terms of paper and marker activities. But you can address this goal area as well as have your child engage in a whole body activity through creating lines on the floor both indoors and outdoors. The pictures below show that you can also incorporate academic concepts such as numbers and letters into this play.
Walking on Lines
Have your child help you with this - most children love to make the zig zag lines . . .
Jumping onto Letters
Make letters using tape and have your child jump with two feet or hop to it. Always start with the first letter of their name. You can also use numbers.
Neighborhood
Sensory Walk
The video below was shared by our behaviorist. It is super fun. For our little ones, you can make it more simple by sequencing 2 or 3 gross motor activities such as jumping on lines, walking on a line, and frog jumping onto numbers.
Another Example of a Sensory Walk & Modified Hopscotch
The first video clip shows a Sensory Walk that combines 3 different gross motor activities: (1) modified hopscotch, (2) line walk, & (3) frog jumps. All of these activities provide strong proprioceptive input so this is a great activity to do before you have your child engage in listening to a story or completing a fine motor/visual motor activity. If you can't play outside, you can replicate this Sensory Walk using blue tape on carpet or floor inside.
The second video clip shows additional ways to engage your child in a game of hopscotch. (great active proprioception)
Ball Play
Whether inside or outside, you can promote your child's eye hand coordination by asking them to throw a bean bag*, soft ball, or tennis ball (if outside) to a target. See the pictures below for ideas for creating different targets.
