Encouraging children to be physically active has always been a daunting task if they decide to dig their heels in, cross their arms and refuse to take part. But what new challenges does this strange new world pose? How can you manage them and how can you ensure that they remain active without the need for constant encouragement?
Tearing is a great workout for little fingers and one that is important for building fine motor skills in early childhood. Here are some awesome paper tearing activity ideas that are simple and require little or no preparation.
While it may start with your toddler gleefully ripping through your toilet rolls and tearing out pages of their books (much to your frustration), tearing paper should actually be encouraged.
What’s not to love about getting to spend a large portion of the day with your friends, laughing and running around celebrating life! As a parent, however, planning and hosting your child’s birthday party can feel like an epic responsibility, even if you are as excited as they are.
As adults, we have learned through the years that the box is merely the packaging for something more exciting, something more than the box. To a child, that box is everything they have ever wanted. It is a blank canvas, limited only by their imagination and time.
You may see this skill referred to as eye-hand coordination. It’s the control and movement of the eyes and hands that guide our reaching and grasping movements. It uses the proprioceptive system in the hand and/or legs and visual system to coordinate these movements. Read more in this blog for awesome activities that will help your children master this skill.
Eye-hand coordination is a crucial ability that lies at the core of many academic, sports, and life skills. It is a vital skill for school success because it allows children to use their vision and muscles to perform tasks such as writing, drawing, tying shoelaces, or catching a ball. In this blog, we’ll show a how to play water bottle skittles and other fun eye-hand coordination games.
Rough and tumble play stimulates the balance receptors and promotes a child’s use of protective reactions. Read more about how playing in this way can be invigorating and fun.
There are many types of play for children, and they all have their importance. Structured play allows children to learn rules, routines, and social skills under the guidance of an adult. Free...
Outdoor play is an important part of childhood. It’s exciting to see children in their natural environment – exploring their surroundings, being curious about what’s around them and finding joy in...
Remember that moment at the first mini soccer match, when your four-year old tries to kick the ball…only to miss it completely? (And you think, how did he manage to do that?). Or when you throw a...
As early childhood educators and parents, we are always looking for ways to stimulate and engage our toddlers in age-appropriate and active learning. Loose parts play is a wonderful ideology that...
‘Play, reflected back, is the creation, and validation of a meaningful relationship with the world’ --Winnicott in van Eerden 2010. As a mother I marvel at the deep focus and intricate layers of...
Body awareness is an important part of the child development process. This concept can seem more hidden and less obvious than other milestones children meet in the early years. In this blog you can...
Bean bag activities for kids work on hand-eye coordination, body awareness, concentration, and integration of motor skills like touch, movement, proprioception, and vision. Parents, carers,...
Let’s face it, growing up today is a completely different ball game to when you were young. It doesn’t matter if you’re in your late 20s or 30s and coming to grips with parenthood for the first...
Pre-schoolers' like to be spontaneous in their creative play, so it’s good to follow your child’s lead. But there’ll also be times when your child wants you to be more involved in her creative...
Active play is such an important part of preschool children’s lives, as it builds up their self-confidence and it increases their emotional well-being, physically, socially, emotionally, and...
Visual perception activities can help a child to make sense of the information that the eyes are sending to the brain. Having good visual perception skills can therefore help prepare your child for...