Webinar recording put together by the National Center for Early Childhood Health and Wellness, sharing tips and strategies on ways to support children’s physical development by providing them with fun movement opportunities in a mixed age group setting.
Let children use blocks (cardboard or soft blocks work well), pillows/cushions, and even furniture to set up an obstacle course where they can climb, crawl under, and move in various ways to make their way through. This is also something that can be set up outside with natural landscape features, using chalk on sidewalk to mark areas, or even with riding toys as part of the course.
Goal: Children will work collaboratively to set up and run through an obstacle course.
Encourage children to name animals and then move their body like that animal. They can incorporate sounds as well. You might even make an ‘animal parade’. Talk about the different ways they move their bodies to look like the animal and name the body parts they use. (The book From Head to Toe by Eric Carle is a great resource for this activity).
Goal: Expand children’s vocabulary related to body parts and animal names and move in a variety of ways.
