Active Games - Parents and Teachers are often challenged with the task of not only educating their children but also keeping them on task. This is a series of games that you can play with kids that keep them active and excited about learning as they transition from activity to activity.
A Feat on Her Feet - To help your child practice keeping his balance, tape a long piece of masking tape to the floor. Ask your child to pretend the tape is a balance beam. His mission is to walk on the tape without falling off the "beam." If your child easily completes the task, ask him to do it again, this time holding a ball over his head.
Animal Exercises - Children love to use their imagination when they play. What a wonderful idea to have children stretch and strengthen their bodies as they mimic imaginary animals.
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BACKYARD GAMES - Here are some great children's fitness activities to do w ith the children in the back yard... some things we use to do as children. Just a little nostalgia, running around the neighborhood.
Balloon Toss - This activity will give children the opportunity to practice the skills of throwing or tossing a balloon straight up into the air and then catching the balloon.
Be a Cat, Be a Tree - Try some simple yoga. Your children will enjoy these two creative movement exercises. They are both based on yoga, an ancient form of exercise and meditation. Invite your children to stretch their bodies and let their imaginations soar!
Bean Bag Ideas - Bean Bags are a great companion to any Training Program for preschoolers, early elementary or special needs children!
Bendables - Point out to your child that what makes it possible for arms and legs to bend is that they have joints (called knees and elbows). Help them learn what joints do by making a game of trying to do things without bending your joints.
Block Bowling - A large motor cooperative activity involving thinking skills, experimentation, and eye-hand coordination.
Bowling - Bowl down milk cartons. Through this fun bowling activity, children hone counting and gross motor skills. They also explore how to respond if they spill something.
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Chase Bubbles - Children love to run and chase, and it's great exercise too! Choose a wide-open area like a park or playground for this activity.
Come Play with Me ( Caillou ) - Gather props to role-play exercising, such as gym shorts, T-shirts, tank tops, tennis shoes, headbands, and sweatbands. Encourage your children to use the props as they pretend to work out.
Creative Play with Number Rhymes - To give children the opportunity to practice the skills of jumping and landing while emphasizing a balanced position on a low balance beam.
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Dance! - Learn simple dances to familiar tunes . Let your children dance freely to different types of music, then show them some simple dances.
Directions - To help kids explore walking in different directions and observe changes in tempos.
Dragon Hunt - Create an adventure at home. Invite your children to go on a dragon hunt with you. Stand together and ask them to repeat after you as you chant words and perform actions.
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ExerDice - This is a fun fitness game to do with your children. Take the children outside in your yard or to the park. Roll the dice and whatever action the dice falls on the children have to do.
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Family Fitness Ideas - Exercise may seem like a major drag, but it doesn't have to be! Being active for 60 minutes a day can be easy and fun! One way to get moving is by becoming fit with your family. There are lots of cool things you can do together. And the best part? You won't even notice that you're also getting in shape!
Fit Kids Ideas - To jump-start your experimentation, here some are some fun exercise ideas you can try: Roller blading, yoga, and dancing and more. Take a look.
Fitness for Kids Who Don't Like Sports - Team sports can help a child gain self-esteem, coordination, and general fitness, and help them learn how to work with other kids and adults. But some kids aren't natural athletes and they may tell you - directly or indirectly - that they just don't like sports. What then?
Frisbee Fun - Frisbees have always been a marvel. They are inexpensive and easy to get. They can be played virtually anywhere there is an open space, a any size group of people can play and the age level of Frisbee play spans all ages.
Fun with Jay Jay / Health and Fitness - Get everybody standing up in a group and lead them in three fun exercises.
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Hip Hop Housework - This article provides some activities that both child and parent can do to make exercise fun and get the house clean at the same time.
Home Olympics - Organize simple athletic events. Help your children create their own Home Olympics! Try to hold your event outside, or put mats on the floor indoors. Remind children that the object is not to win, but to have FUN!
Horses - Learn about these interesting animals. Many young children find horses fascinating. Here's an opportunity to help kids learn more about them through books and 'horse-play.'
Hula Hoop - Hula Hoops have been around a lot longer than the 1960s. They continue to be popular for adults and children. This is a fun way to teach your children that fitness is fun.
Hungry Hungry Hippos - To develop spatial awareness, body awareness and color matching skills.
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Imitation - Play follow-the-leader games. Young children learn by imitating, and follow-the-leader games can be lots of fun. Follow these great ideas.
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Jello Tag - It's fun to play jello tag. We had a great time playing today. Here's all you need to know to play this game.
Jump Rope Game - This is a relay race game. Each team tries to get its members through the moving rope. If one person touches the rope, even with her hair, her team starts over.
Jump Rope Routines - Jump roping is a great skill for children to learn. Jump ropes are a great choice for children fitness training because they are inexpensive, portable, and easy to use. Check out these children's jump rope fitness routines.
Jump the River - The purpose of this activity is to give children the opportunity to practice the skills of jumping and landing while emphasizing swinging the arms when jumping, and landing in a balanced position without falling.
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Kick Far! - This activity will give children the opportunity to practice the skill of kicking a ball. At this developmental age each child should focus on kicking the ball hard so it travels far away from the child. Kicking the ball “as hard as you can,” will assist children in developing kicking skills as the motion of kicking hard forces the child to go through the full range of motion with the kicking leg.
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Looby Loo - "In" and "out" are two of the positional words learned by the very youngest of children. Play a game where children will put their body parts "In" and "Out."
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Musical Line Movements - To help children work on balance by traveling along lines on the floor; and by starting and stopping a variety of locomotor movements with control.
Musical Moon Bounce - Create bouncy music on homemade instruments. In the episode "Arthur Bounces Back," Arthur's moon shoes let him bounce high up into the air. Talk with your children about what they'd do with moon shoes, and then have a Musical Moon Bounce!
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Nursery Rhyme Olympics - Children play games based on nursery rhymes and the Olympics. This fitness activity creates games for young children to play based on the current unit and learn about the Olympic games at the same time.
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Octopus Tag - The object of the game is for the swimmers to cross to the other shore without getting caught by the Octopus. Swimmers dash across the water when the Octopus yells "Octopus" .
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Pantomime - Mime some favorite activities. Using pantomime, children can "talk" without speaking.
Parachute Ideas - Parachutes are a great addition to any game session when working with children. They teach teamwork, cooperation, strength, agility, body movements, coordination, and endurance. It encourages positive cooperative group experiences.
Pathway Dribble - To allow young children the opportunity to explore dribbling a ball with their feet.
Penguin Walk - Pretend to be ducks or penguins. How do you move? Waddle from one end of the room to the other. Then walk from one end of the room to the other. Which is easier? Which is faster?
Play Ball! - Play games with beanbags and balls. Most children like to play with beanbags and balls. Here are two fun and simple cooperative games that you and your children (or you and a child) can play together.
Pumpkin Power - Fall is a great time to enjoy cooler weather and get into fun and fitness. Use this series of games in your next fall or seasonal party.
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Rag Ball - Ball games can be hard for young children, especially at first. But if you make the task easier (like bringing the bag closer...and closer) and encourage practicing, children often find they get better and better.
Rainbow Fish to the Rescue - To foster space awareness and cooperation skills.
READY, SET, SPELL! - Integrating physical activity and spelling. The teacher calls our a color, a spelling word, and yells, "Ready, set, SPELL!" The children run to their clipboards, write the word, and run back to the start to wait for another word.
Rock and Roll Relay - This large motor activity gets kids rocking and rolling. This fitness activity is so much fun for kids.
Running Tips for Kids - Running is a terrific way for kids to stay in shape. Just about anyone can do it, and you don’t need money, equipment or special training to start. If you enjoy running, it’s a hobby that you can continue for a long time!
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Scarves Fitness Ideas - Scarves are a great tool for parents, teachers, and group fitness instructors to use with students. Using scarves can teach children to use upper body muscles that are multi-directional.
Scavenger Hunt - This scavenger has a lot of running. Set up a scavenger hunt around your yard and house. Get into pairs (you must stay with your partner at all times) and see who can complete the scavenger hunt first. You can make the items to get fairly simple.
Shadow Dancing - Have fun with shadows -- no matter what the weather -- and help children express their feelings with movement and dance.
Shape Shifters - To help kids learn and be able to recognize different shapes and colors and physical fitness at the same time.
Snow Man - Children will gain skill (ball rolling) and reinforce other concepts important fitness concepts.
Summer Games - Athletic physiques (or healthy bodies) come in all different shapes and sizes, but, they all have something in common - all healthy bodies usually consist of exercising, eating right, and making positive choices.
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Tag and Group Fun - The game of tag is a popular activity for children. Tag teaches many important basic physical and mental skills. Tag shows a participant to be observant of their surroundings, play fair, follow rules, learn to work cooperatively in a group, be imaginative and creative, develop speed, strength and agility, and to use hand and eye coordination.
Tag for Two's - Here is a super new fitness game. You'll need at least six people (and an even number) to play this game along with a big space in which you have set up boundaries (part of a soccer field or even someone's front yard would work, but you have to be sure to have boundaries).
Team Challenges - Work together to win. Try these two cooperative games in which the players may end up giggling rather than squabbling!
The "I Like Relay" - This is a fun relay game to do with your children. This fitness game will get your kids moving around for sure.
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Volcano!
- This fitness activity will help young children develop problem solving
techniques through movement.
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PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES
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