Watching Simone Biles’ gold-medal gymnastic floor performance was inspiring. For a play-of-the-day kids movement activities get the gold.
As a young child, Simone Biles apparently liked to jump off the furniture and do flips, despite reminders the house wasn’t a playground. How many of us say the same thing? Later, Aimee Boorman one of her coaches, remarked on her powerful “air sense.” In addition to our five senses of taste, touch, hearing, seeing, and smell, we have another two. We have senses for our body’s position in space and the sense of movement.
Like the others, kids need to explore these senses too. That includes crawling, jumping, running, climbing, wiggling, rolling, dancing, balancing, hanging upside down, squirming, twitching, hopping, somersaulting, fidgeting, tumbling, and more. We can remind kids the house is not a gym or playground but these actions will happen. If we’re lucky, we can send them outside or to the basement. To develop their “air sense” of their body’s position in space and sense of movement, kids need to do them all.
A playground is one place where kids can play and move. On swings, slides, monkey bars, and other equipment kids Some communities have centers with gym time for parents and tots. Swimming pools and parks are two other possible facilities. You might be able to make an obstacle curse, er … I mean, obstacle course in the backyard. Kids can crawl under tables, jump over the cushions of the lawn chairs, do circles around an empty box, balance on a board, jump off a step, squeeze through a tunnel of chairs placed together in a row, or other actions.
Kids movement activities promote body awareness and self-confidence. Yes, some children will have more natural talent than others, but all children benefit from opportunities to challenge and develop their abilities. What are some movement activities and play you can include in your child’s day?