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 Jog the Frog towards your daughter only to find that she tries to grab it a full second too late?
No need to stress, this doesn’t mean that your little one will grow up to be uncoordinated or isn’t destined to play sports. A lack of coordination is quite common among preschool children because they’re still developing something called spatial awareness.
Turns out, it takes a lot of brain power for kids to learn where objects are in relation to their own bodies and how to move their bodies to achieve a desired result.
As a Clamber Club SPORTS franchise owner, I’d like to explore how we can assist to promote space awareness in physical education.
For some kids, especially those in early ages, space awareness might be a bit more challenging to develop. That’s why Clamber Club SPORTS promotes space awareness in physical education and gives children an extra opportunity to develop this skill. Here are some of the spatial awareness games we play with young children at their pre-school, playschool, nursery school or kindergarten.
OBSTACLE COURSE
We encourage little learners to move their bodies in many directions with a fun obstacle course. We create an effective obstacle course using Clamber Club’s unique and specialised equipment, balls, beanbags, toys, and many other items. We increase the height of the course and the size of the obstacle and give them chances to go under or over or climb different things. Our specifically designed lesson plans work through all the key skills children will need to become more proficient at space awareness.
CATCHING AND THROWING
As I mentioned previously, a simple throwing and catching game is ideal to help your children develop space awareness in physical education. Even at home you can create an easy game using a ball or encourage your child to pick a sport that includes throwing and catching.
BALANCE
Another useful way to help children with spatial awareness is by focusing on balancing skills. We have many exercises that we use during our Clamber Club classes, like warm-up activities, jumping, weekly balance activities and unique equipment to encourage them to master this skill.
For toddlers, it’s about focusing on movement and balance, while they’re still discovering their own bodies. Sports that require handling an object, like a ball, racket or a bat, or spatial notions such as left/right or up/down are still difficult at this age. Kids need to learn how to balance, being off balance, and how to fall. Plus, they can learn to interact with others as their socialisation skills are also still developing.
ADELE BARLOW
Franchise Owner Clamber Club Sports – Boksburg
sportsboksburg@clamberclub.com
www.clamberclub.com