Here are some fun and simple gross motor activities for your child that you can easily do at home with them. These activities can help equip your child with good gross motor skills which are important for them to be able to perform everyday tasks.
What Are Gross Motor Skills?
Gross motor skills are those which require movements of the whole body (arms, legs, and torso) to perform activities such as jumping, climbing and sitting. All of these activities are necessary for everyday life at school, work, or home. If gross motor skills are poor these tasks will be much more difficult to perform.
Simple Gross Motor Activities For Your Child
Different Types Of Animal Walking
Using animals to practice gross motor skills is a fun and easy activity that can easily be done at home.
Bear Walk- This is when the child walks using their hands and feet making sure their bottoms are up high just like a bear does when he walks.
Penguin Walk- Ask kids to keep their arms straight down by their sides and waddle using their heels like a penguin.
Crab walk- Children use their hands and feet to scuttle sideways. Make sure their hips are high off the ground so their core muscles get a good workout.
Slide like A Snake– Children can lie on their stomachs with their arms to their sides. They then inch forward to ‘slide’ along the floor like a snake.
Kangaroo Jump- Kids keep their knees together with their hands perched up like a kangaroo. Encourage them to get down as low as they can and then spring forward.
Set up An Obstacle Course At Home
You can use the lounge room for this fun and beneficial activity. Use furniture rugs and pillows and get the kids to climb under over and around obstacles.
Trampolines
Trampolines will help your child to improve their balance. Mini trampolines at home are just as effective if there is not enough space for a regular-sized one in the backyard.
Playing In The Park
Find a park that has good, safe, and challenging equipment. Swinging on the swings can help children to improve and develop their balance. It will also help them with their coordination because they need to work on moving their legs back and forth at the same time as shifting their weight to be able to swing back and forth.
Some parks also have equipment that encourages children to climb and use their trunk muscles. Wobble bridges and ladders where they have to swing like monkeys to get across the play equipment are not only fun but very effective for strengthening and developing gross motor skills.
Ball Games
Ball games such as kicking throwing and catching are excellent for coordination and gross motor skills.
Tug Of War
You can play this with your child by getting them to hold one end of the rope and you the other. The aim is then to try and pull each other over. Another great upper body and leg workout.
Hopscotch
This game is full of lots of jumping, hopping, and balancing. A fun and simple game with excellent benefits.
Target Practice
Set up a target for children to aim at and throw bean bags.
Balance Beam
Use masking tape to make a line on the floor and challenge your child to walk along the tape.
Dancing
Dancing is not only great fun it also gets children to practice balance and coordination as well as motor planning skills. They can dance freely or you can challenge them with following song movements like”Head, shoulders, knees, and toes”. See how fast they can go!
Pulling and Pushing
Wheelbarrows, Trucks, and pretend baby strollers are great for gross motor skills. You can even hold your child’s legs so they walk using their hands and they can be the wheelbarrow.
Playing with Bubbles
Children love chasing and popping bubbles. Trying to track down a bubble is not always easy and that’s great because it means children have to run, jump, dodge and make their way around shifting their balance.
Riding Tricycles, Peddle Pushers and Bikes
Perfect for working on core and leg muscles as well as improving coordination and strength.
The Importance Of Gross Motor Skills
Cognitive Development
Participating in physical activities that encourage the development of gross motor skills can improve academic performance.
Confidence and Self-Esteem
Children with good physical ability will be more likely to engage in sporting activities. Sport helps children learn about participating in a game and the satisfaction of knowing the effort they have contributed.
Good For Children’s Health
Children practice their gross motor skills when they are involved in physical activities. This is beneficial for their flexibility, joints, bones, and muscles. As well as keeping children fit, maintaining a healthy weight and good posture.
Ability to Assess Risk
This is an important skill that children will carry on into adulthood.
On A Final Note
Activities such as these are simple and can be extremely beneficial for your child to develop good gross motor skills. Having good gross motor skills will help your child’s self-esteem, classroom learning, and overall health and well-being.
Links
https://childdevelopment.com.au/resources/child-development-charts/gross-motor-development-chart/
Other Beneficial Activities For Children’s Development
https://playworkeatrepeat.com/benefits-of-sandpit-play/
These are great. Allowing kids to play in lots of different ways like this is so important. Thanks for breaking it down.
These are great activities for children’s development. every parent or parent-to-be should read this to gain some ideas on how to support their kid’s development. Thanks for sharing.
I never thought some of these were gross motor activities. Great post, thank you!
It’s so important to stimulate them well at this age, but at the same time, they get bored so quickly, and it’s challenging to find new activities constantly. Your article gives me plenty of ideas, thank you!