jgrossmotor

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My very favorite large muscle activities have been reserved for my "GROSS MOTOR" booklet (see the "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers" section of my website).

GROSS MOTOR: Climbing; Winter Sports Share your ideas too. E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com

Climbing
Lecture Notes and Random Activities:
*Safety Rule: When climbing on equipment, show children how to wrap their thumbs on the other side of the bar from the 4 fingers.
*Children can climb vertical and horizontal ladders, playdome climbers, ladder exercisers, climbing nets, and even ropes (with assistance). Some equipment can be climbed underneath as well as on top.
*Can you pretend you are climbing a mountain? (when on dome climbing equipment)
*Lie on your back on the floor and pretend you are climbing.
*If your number of the day, week, or month is 6, you could have children climb 6 steps of a stairway one day, or 6 rungs of a ladder, etc.

Gross Motor Field Trip suggestion from JoAnna Clark in New York:

To get exercise during the winter months, take the children Bumper Bowling.

*Winter Sports:
From Stormie:

For those of you who may be interested, I have reserved a couple of my very favorite "winter sports" activities/ideas for my "WINTER" booklet (see "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers")

I like having the theme of seasonal sports (Fall, Winter, Summer). Off the top of my head, here's just a few of the reasons why:
*We can teach a love for exercise (rather than dread) as children learn there are lots of fun ways to keep our bodies in shape.
*Children learn to recognize seasonal changes. For example, we can't easily play the summer sport of baseball in the snow and we can't very well snow ski on the green grass of summer.
*Children learn which body parts are used for various sports (body awareness). They learn that particular sporting gear protects our bodies (a football helmet protects the head, for example).
*Children learn to "balance" their bodies.
*Children learn weather/clothing association (snow skiing jacket versus water skiing attire)
*Children learn good verus bad sportsmanship, group cooperation, taking turns, and other social skills
*Children learn about spatial relationships (under, over, in, out, etc)
*Children develop their "thinking" skills. (Example: A child is "thinking" when he has to estimate how far to stand back to get a ball to go into a basket when he throws it.
*Children learn to "follow directions."
*Children learn math skills (Bouncing a ball a certain number of times is "counting." "Keeping score" is math.)

I was taught that I don't need to know how to play a particular sport to teach preschoolers an appreciation for it. For example, let's say that all you know about basketball is that a round orange ball is thrown into a hoop. No problem! A simple but appropriate mini-lesson might include:
At Group Time, as a language activity, discuss photos in an album you've created from magazine pictures (pictures of what players wear, pictures of the ball, the hoop, the court on which it's played, pictures of both men and women playing it, etc). Children can "pretend" to play basketball by throwing a ball into a clothes basket placed on a tabletop. They can divide up into two teams and see which team scores the most "baskets." If you do know a little about the sport, you could, for example, introduce the words "air ball" when someone "misses" the basket. From this, they learn that it's ok to miss -- and there's even a name for it. Children can stretch their bodies, practice running, improve balance by standing on one foot, etc. See, it doesn't have to be a course in Sports 101. (By the way, ask your friends and neighbors for their old Sports Illustrated magazines. From these magazines, you can develop mini sports albums, collect pictures for matching, sorting, sports collages, etc.)

From Dianne, South Bend, Indiana:
Throwing Snow Balls: One day last winter when it was too cold to go outside, I brought the snow inside and we threw snowballs. The kids loved it. The water didn't hurt anything and we all got some large motor physical exercise. (Of course, make sure it's self-contained and in an area that can be cleaned easily.)
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