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Developing Gross Motor Skills
By admin | December 18, 2007
No matter how proficient your child is at any given skill, always encourage and motivate her with plenty of positive reinforcement for her efforts.
Remember, that each individual has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. I believe that in life, we all need to learn to improve our weak areas to an acceptable standard, compensate for them where necessary while focusing on, developing and enjoying our strengths and talents.
No one is good at everything. The object of these stimulating activities, is to help your child develop each area to her unique potential, not to over-stimulate or try and develop super-babies!
The following are suggestions of activities you can do with your child to develop gross motor skills. They are aimed at 3-5 year olds, but since this is a wide range, you should adapt them according to your child’s proficiency.
1. Play with a large ball. Encourage your child to kick the ball, using one foot and then the other. Then throw and catch it too.
2. Encourage your child to ride a bike, a push bike or pedal bike with or without side-wheels, according to your child’s ability.
3. Play “Simon says - do this.” Say those words and do an action that your child must copy. When you say “Simon says do that” she must NOT do the action.
4. To teach your child spatial relations. Ask her to stand in front of a chair, behind a chair, next to the chair, on top of the chair and crouch under the chair.
5. To develop her sense of laterality, let your child kneel on the floor, then instruct her in turn to lift her left hand, lift her right leg etc.
6. Tell your child that she must be your shadow and mimic all your actions as your walk about and perform simple actions.
7. Learn action songs and perform the actions as you sing them.
8. Ask your child to imitate the movement of different animals: creep like a snake, waddle like a duck, hop like a rabbit etc.
9. Encourage her to balance first on one leg, then on the other for as long as possible.
10. Ask your child to gallop like a horse.
Topics: childrens health |
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