Using your " I's " outside

3 Ways to Enhance Outdoor Time

Investigate, Interact, Imagine

Investigate: Look at things often overlooked. Ask questions about the environment then seek answers. Spend time observing plants and trees over time, or bugs in their natural habitats. Let children experiment with what water does to sand and how the wind blows maple leaf pods. Ask "What are you experiencing with (each of your senses)?" as they explore.

Interact: Kids need to expend energy, and groups of kids are great at encouraging each other to do just this! You can often observe groups of children making up or playing games which are full of movement and action (gross motor development). Practice the fundamentals of sports with a few of the neighbor kids or teach them one of the games you used to play at recess when you were younger. The neighborhood park can be a comfortable place to practice early social skills.

Imagine: It takes time for children to conjure up imaginative plots and story lines. Give time to develop imaginative play. Set out a box of simple props or costumes OUTSIDE and they'll look at them in a whole new light! If children have a good thing going, give them time to play out the scene without interrupting.*

*I can remember having quite long periods of time outside with the neighborhood kids where we'd have to entertain ourselves and the longer we had it seems the more creative we had to be to occupy that time!

Galloping

Back in my kindy days, I remember the teacher asking me to perform developmental tasks and making check marks in little boxes on the page. One of these was galloping. Have you taught your cowgirls and cowboys to gallop gallantly?

Gallop: An exaggerated slide step composed of a step and a leap.

Cues:
*Take a big step forward
*Keep one foot in front of the body at all times

Galloping Chant

(Preschoolers gallop quickly at first then slow their ponies down)

Galloping, galloping, galloping.

How fast my pony can go?

When he's tired we'll come home.

Slow, slow, slow.

*Variations: Challenge children to gallop forward and backward, in different pathways, and at different speeds.

Dance a Part

Switch on the music and listen to the rhythm. Tell children to dance to the music using one body part at a time. Finger, hand, knee, face, shoulder, leg, toe and so on! This will help sync your preschoolers thoughts and actions, providing for more control over body movement.

Body Pretzels

Print out a set of body part flash cards at ESL-Kids.com. Or make your own! An experience to see just how flexible the human body is. Can it twist like a pretzel?

Parent
1. Divide the cards into two piles. Upper body and lower body.
2. Shuffle each pile and turn face down.

Child

3. Draw one card from each pile.
4. GUESS...can I touch those two body parts together? Make a prediction.
5. Test your guess. Was your guess correct?

*Extension: Serve pretzels for snack.

Sensational Scarves

A scarf is a simple prop that encourages movement. Scarves are available for purchase on a number of children's stores. I suggest checking your local thrift store. They are light and showy. They flow with ease through the air as the mover prances and dances. It encourages crossing the midline. So many play possibilities!

Abracadabra! Scarf Magic!

Repeat the Beat

Snap, clap or pat a simple beat and ask your child to "repeat the beat." Start simple and increase difficulty. Mix snaps and claps and lap pats.

*Variations: Use a drum to pound out a beat that goes with the syllables in names of people you know. For example, Tyler would be clap-clap. Adrienne would be clap-clap-clap: three quick claps.

I Can Hammer

For motor skills practice, a hammer and nails can be teaching tools. The optimal materials are the real thing- wood and metal! Don't worry moms, pair a hammer and nails with safety goggles. An old tree stump is a good surface. You've never seen concentration until you watch a preschooler use a hammer and nails!

If it is tricky, you can scaffold success by drilling or pounding a few partial holes into the stump first yourself so the nail stays upright, no holding necessary.

*Variation: Let your child practice hammering golf tees into a big chunk of styrofoam or floral foam with a toy hammer.

*Extension: A song

Johnny works with one hammer, (pound one arm)

One hammer, one hammer,

Johnny works with one hammer,

Then he works with two.

Johnny works with two hammers, (add other arm)

Two hammers, two hammers,

Johnny works with two hammers,

Then he works with three.

Repeat with:

Three – add one leg

Four – add the other leg

Five – add head

On last line of verse five say, “Then he goes to sleep.” (put hands under head like pillow)

Bell Ringer

Tie a piece of string to a large bell and hang it from a tree branch at child's eye level. Toss a ball or beanbag at it to make the bell ring. Level up or down by changing how close or far away from the bell the child stands.

Balance Beam

**Place a stripe of masking tape across the floor for your child to practice walking on. Once that is mastered, she is ready to move on to a curb.**

Bouncy Painting

In the middle is 3 primary colors of tempera- red, yellow and blue, in an old film reel lid. Our paintbrushes are nylons filled with rice and tied off. Just bounce into the paint and splat on the paper. Wonderful fun! The kids started bouncing right along with the nylons. I wish I would have taken an after picture, because the ground was splotchy too! It's addicting really. My quite obvious recommendation for this one is outdoors.

Crossing the Midline - Exercise Those Brains!

Physical activity is what gets blood flowin' and brains a goin'. Imagine a line going from the top of your head, down the center of your face, down through your belly button, the entire length of your body. That's the midline. Since the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice-versa, when arms and legs cross over, we are forcing both sides of the brain to communicate.

When children need their brains energized or refocused, do an activity in which they cross the midline.

Crawling- The kind babies do where the hand and opposite leg move together.

Windmills- Spread feet apart. Extend arms. Bend over at waist and tap right hand to left foot. Raise back up and tap left hand to right foot.

Elbow Tap- With arms at sides, raise one leg up and touch it to the opposite elbow. Switch!

Dance- With streamers or ribbons.

Dance Moves- Mark the children's midlines with painter's tape and challenge them to come up with a dance move that crosses the body.

Simon Says or Follow the Leader

More: http://make-the-grade-ot.com/Midline%20Crossing%20Activities.html

Salad Spinner Art

For this art activity, you will need:
A salad spinner
Watered down tempera paints
Small paper plates or circles of paper

Directions: Have your child place the paper plate inside the salad spinner, drop some paint on, replace the lid and give it a whirl!

This is usually a very popular project with the preschoolers, leading to multiple tries and oodles of finished paper plates to take home. Enjoy!