Large motor movements are an important aspect of developmental growth in preschool
Throughout the school year, you need to make sure you are investing time in planning activities that promote various types of large motor skills…
What kind of large motor activities are there?
Circle Games
Ring-around-the-Rosie or duck-duck-goose are two examples of simple activities that get children moving, running, jumping, sitting, and standing…
Relay Races
Relays can be simple and fun and they really do not need to be a race as much as an activity that encourages different kinds of moving. Roll the ball relay – the teacher rolls the ball to the first child in line, the child picks up the ball and runs it back across the room to the teacher then sit’s down behind the teacher. Now the next child in line goes.
Relay races don’t have to make sense, just get children moving from one place to the next and relays can be done with any type of object. Take, for instance, this stack the box relay…
Pushing and Pulling
Invite large motor play by providing things your students can push and pull…
Balance
Create opportunities for children to explore balance. Young children are still building their sense of balance and motor control. Whether it is walking across a balance beam or standing on one foot while counting to five, take time for building balance…
Action Songs and Rhymes
There are many wonderful CD’s out there that get children dancing and moving like songs from Greg and Steve or Hap Palmer’s “Sammy” song. If you don’t have a CD – then make up action songs that get your students to stretch, bend, twist, march, and jump. Try action songs like musical chairs; the limbo; head, shoulders, knees, and toes; and the Conga.
Parachute Play
We have lots of different kinds of parachutes we use for playing games both indoors and outdoors. Parachute play invites children to move their whole bodies as they lift their arms up and down, walk in a circle, bend and unbend their knees. In addition, a parachute is a wonderful way to promote cooperative play…
Take a Walk
We happen to have some wonderful trails behind our preschool so taking a walk for us is always an adventure. Whether you take a walk in the woods or around the building, walking is a great way to get some exercise…
Organized Sports
Yes, preschoolers can play a simple game of basketball, kickball, bowling, and dodgeball too. Change up the rules a bit, use soft bats and balls, or take the basics of the sport and modify it to the age group you are teaching.
Equipment
Hula hoops, tape on the floor, balloons, balls, push toys, laundry baskets, and jump ropes are all examples for simple tools that can lead to wonderful indoor large motor activities…
Free Play
Make sure you are assessing the skills of your preschoolers. Can they make a circle, take turns, cheer for their friends, and follow simple rules or instructions of a game or a song? Do your preschoolers stretch, hop, run, march, jump, and bend daily? Your role is to make sure they do…
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