by Rashmi Sharma | Apr 17, 2020 | Fitness Activity
Requirements
- Open space, indoor or outdoor at least 3 X 10 metres
- Two round pieces of paper
Instructions
- Pretend the open space is a pond.
- The goal is to cross the pond by walking on your two lily pads.
- Begin by placing one lily pad on the “pond” and step onto it with one foot.
- While balancing on one lily pad with one foot, place the second lily pad in front.
- Step onto the second lily pad and balance on one foot again.
- Continue until you have crossed the entire “pond”.
- If you lose balance and fall into the “water,” pretend to swim up to your lily pad again by doing five jumping jacks, then continue crossing the pond.
Variations
- Ask your child to think up a new scenario – for example, stepping between rocks over lava
- Challenge your child to place the lily pad as far as possible in front of the other lily pad (longer steps)
Benefits
This activity develops coordination and balance as kids have to constantly bend and balance on one foot.
by Rashmi Sharma | Apr 17, 2020 | Fitness Activity
Requirements
• Tall fence or wall 3-4 metres wide (no windows)
• Small foam ball for throwing or large foam ball for kicking
Instructions
- One player stands with back to fence / wall and tries to dodge the ball.
- Other player stands 4-5 metres from fence / wall and tries to hit the first player with the ball.
- If using a small foam ball, the ball can be thrown.
- If using a large foam ball, the ball can be kicked.
- The player must be hit below the waist (legs).
Variations
• When the player is hit, the two players switch places.
• On each turn, each player has to try to dodge 15 balls. Count how many times the player is hit.
Benefits
This activity develops coordination of legs, arms and torso, plus dynamic balance and speed. These skills transfer to sports and activities that involve dynamic balance and speed (e.g., soccer, basketball, hockey, volleyball, racquet sports, martial arts, dance).
by Rashmi Sharma | Apr 17, 2020 | Fitness Activity
Requirements
• Flat and level indoor or outdoor space at least 3m by 5m
• Dry lawn or carpet recommended
Instructions
- In a flat, open area, show your child how to crab walk.
- Squat on ground, place hands behind you, and lift your hips off the ground.
- Start “walking” using hands and feet.
- Play follow the leader as you crab walk.
Variations
• Challenge your child to a crab walk race over a short distance.
• If several children are present, play a game of tag in a confined area while crab walking.
Benefits
This activity develops coordination, balance, and strength as kids try to imitate the movements of a crab.
by Rashmi Sharma | Apr 17, 2020 | Fitness Activity
Requirements
• Empty cardboard tubes from wrapping paper
• String, twine, or thin rope 5-8 metres long (the “line”)
• Outdoor space with objects such as trees and fence posts to tie both ends of the line
Instructions
- Pass one end of the string, twine, or rope though the hollow cardboard tube.
- Tie one end of the line to a firm object at the height of your child’s ear.
- Tie the other end to a firm object at a slightly greater height.
- Challenge your child to stand at the low end and “throw” the tube along the line.
- See how far your child can throw.
- Continue practicing and try to improve the distance each time.
Variations
• Be sure to practice throwing with both hands.
Benefits
This activity develops coordination of arms and torso, fine motor control, and the ability to “read” distances. These skills transfer to sports and activities that involve throwing an object accurately over a perceived distance (e.g., balls, javelins, frisbees, ribbons, sticks, batons).
by Rashmi Sharma | Apr 17, 2020 | Fitness Activity
Requirements
- Beanbags, soft foam balls, or balls of socks
- Buckets, laundry baskets, or large cardboard boxes
- Pieces of cardboard, or paper to mark “golf tees”
Instructions
- Create a series of “golf holes” by placing the buckets, baskets or boxes around your living room, hallways and other available spaces.
- Place scraps of cardboard or paper on the floor to mark “golf tees” where you throw from.
- With your child, take turns standing on each golf tee and tossing a beanbag or ball underhand into the bucket, basket or box.
- Continue tossing at each hole until each of you sinks one shot.
- Go around the circuit of “golf holes” and keep track of how many tosses each of you requires to sink a shot at each hole.
- If your child has too much difficulty sinking shots, consider having different tees with different distances for parent and child.
Variations
- As your child masters the game using short distance tosses, challenge them by increasing the distances
- After your child masters the underhand throw, play again using overhand throws
Benefits
This activity develops coordination of arms and torso, fine motor control, and the ability to “read” distances. These skills transfer to sports and activities that involve throwing an object accurately over a perceived distance (e.g., balls, frisbees, ribbons, sticks, batons).
by Rashmi Sharma | Apr 17, 2020 | Fitness Activity
Requirements
- Large hard surface such as driveway, sidewalk, garage, or basement room
- Large round ball such as basketball or soccer ball
- Old milk cartons or plastic drink bottles
- Small amount of sand or soil
Instructions
- Collect a few empty milk cartons or plastic drink bottles and fill the bottoms with 2 cm of garden soil, sand or gravel.
- Set up the cartons or drink bottles as bowling targets at the top end of a driveway beside your house, inside your garage, or inside a large basement room without breakable objects.
- Choose a place where you and your child will bowl from. You might want to let your child bowl from a shorter distance than you.
- Show your child how to do a basic bowling action.
- If you are bowling right-handed, your left leg should step forward as you bowl. If you are bowling left-handed, your right leg should step forward.
TIP: Your throwing hand should come from straight behind and under your shoulder, almost brushing your leg.
- Take turns bowling and trying to knock down the cartons or plastic bottles.
Variations
- As your child’s throwing improves, try making a game where you keep score – each milk carton can be worth 1-3 points
Benefits
This activity develops coordination of arms and torso, fine motor control, and the ability to “read” distances. These skills transfer to sports and activities that involve throwing an object accurately over a perceived distance (e.g., balls, frisbees, ribbons, sticks, batons).
