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Games for Promoting Your Child's
Motor Development
by Rae Pica
If a child is having fun while moving, that child is far more likely to
want to keep moving. What he doesn't realize is that he's also
practicing his movement skills!
Following are activities that help promote the development of locomotor
(traveling) skills:
In and Around. There's nothing like an obstacle course to provide
practice with any number of skills, including crawling, creeping,
walking, and jumping. Additionally, an obstacle course will offer your
child valuable experience with prepositions such as over, under, around,
and through. Depending on your child's level of development (you can
even use obstacle courses with babies who are only creeping), set up a
course using large empty boxes to move through, chairs or other pieces
of furniture big enough to move under, jump ropes to move over, or small
items to move around. Then lead your child through the maze. Every time
you play this game, you can arrange the objects differently and even
give them different purposes. For instance, if the jump rope was
originally lying on the floor for leaping or jumping over, you can later
suspend it between two pieces of furniture for creeping under.
Chasing Bubbles. Want to give children a reason to run and jump? Take
them outside and invite them to catch the bubbles you blow! They'll let
you know when they're tired – but until then, keep on blowing.
Jump! Place your child on the bottom of a set of steps – or on the edge
of a low and box or a curb, for instance – and stand facing her. Hold
out your arms and encourage her to jump. Repeat the process as long as
she stays interested. When she's ready for something a bit higher, use
sturdy plastic crate or something similar.
Ring-around-the-Rosy. If there are at least three people available (two
children and an adult), play this traditional game for practice with
sliding – and sitting. It also offers experience with the spatial
concepts of around and down.
Follow the Leader. This game offers a great opportunity for practice of
various motor skills. Even if it's just you and your child, the game is
plenty of fun. Just lead the way around the living room or backyard,
performing as many different locomotor skills as you know your child can
replicate. Don't' forget to vary your movements with the elements of
movement, changing direction, level, pathway, speed, force, and body
shape. And you can incorporate both bound flow and nonlocomotor skills
into the game by occasionally stopping and performing, say, a stretch,
bend, twist, or shake.
Traffic Lights. For this game you'll need three large pieces of paper or
cardboard – one red, one green, and one yellow. When you hold up the
green paper, the children walk. (You can play this game with one or
several children.) When you hold up the yellow, they walk in place. At
the sight of the red, they stop and wait. Start with walking until they
get the hang of it. Then play it with any other locomotor skills they
can perform.
In and Out. Place one plastic hoop per child on the floor or ground.
Then invite the children to jump in and out of the hoop, all the way
around. When the children are able to hop, invite them to hop in and
out. (The best way to help your child learn to hop is to hold her hand
and hop right alongside her.)
Tag with a Twist. A game of tag is a great way to get children to
practice both running and dodging. To be sure the latter is involved,
gradually reduce the available area in which the children can play!
About the author
Rae Pica is a children's movement specialist and author of “Your Active
Child: How to Promote Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development
through Age-Appropriate Activity” (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Rae speaks to
parent and education groups throughout North America. You can visit her
and read more articles at
www.movingandlearning.com.
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