Preschool Play: Builds Body Control

Make every moment of childhood contribute to kids' health!
The tugs on the minutes and hours of a child's day are making simple play times less and less!

• More schooling: early learning

• Transit times to activity sites

• Less play spaces available

• Screens taking free minutes: tables, mobile devices, views of media on screens

• Parents or caregivers: with limited time to just play with youngsters

During Preschool Play: Try this simple task to build body awareness and some skill mastery!

Task 11:  Straight Arrow LEGS!

Task 11: Straight ARROW Legs! Kids love to hear words that are silly, repeated in a rhythm or those words that add a flare or new slant to their developing vocabulary. Use this simple 'exercise challenge' to build body control and awareness. Ask your child to be seated and extend their legs forward [with straight knees and pointy toes]. By supporting their back with their arms, ask them to lift one leg high to the sky! Like an ARROW-straight. Hold HIGH for a few seconds. Repeat with other leg!

Source: kidskills.com via Diane on Pinterest

Preschools Need Play and more PLAY!

Play builds kids!  

Look what it did for you and your pals, the kick the can crowd or the bat in hand on the vacant lot crew:  physical activity for children some decades ago took place with the precision of clockwork:  that is sun UP to sundown!
How old are you?  Remember that lifestyle?
Well, the screen bearing youngsters of the 21st century do not behave with the intensity of action nor the easy access and safety of spaces that their parents enjoyed.

The careful scheduling a parent must do to give kids adequate play hours ...is tedious. No easy pick-up games!  Few UN-organized youth sporting events!
Wadda up?  Not kids heart rates! Not the oxygenation of the brain!

The main measurable factor that is UP is the average weight of children.

Though time is limited by dual income families, with commitments to transport, assist on homework and the basics of food provision and clothing maintenance, making time for PLAY is tough.

There is hardly time to think about a simple PLAN for  giving kids a foundation in movement and sports skills!  But a company, founded by an educator, Diane Massad, has made a series of 6 illustrated Manuals available in print and eBook format.

The Kidskills Movement and Sports Training Series will give caregivers and teachers of preschools a step-by-step, quick and easy to present, way to lead children through the basics of being active.

No child is a natural!  The basic body positions and the names of directions, parts of the body and fundamental locomotor steps must be LEARNED!

Here's a example of one lesson that would only take a minute to present:

The lesson helps youngsters understand how to extend their legs and straighten their knees. They also learn how to keep their balance by pressing on the floor. 

The task starts the experience of getting 'upside down'! This inversion is a basic skill and stimulates the vestibular system of the brain.

The value of this ability development is the enriching of the brain's network of neurons. The more the nervous system is recruited and linked to a movement the better body-mind connectivity a person achieves.

So find a safe spot to practice and make this little skill practice a 'job' for your kid. 

Play is the work of children!

Quick Concentration Check for kids

Concentration, even if only for a minute, is a critical ability for ALL!

In the whirl of technological wonders, both kids an adults are finding their ability to focus on one task at a time, difficult!
Right? Push this! Text that response! Give a directive to your children or spouse or colleague!   All these tasks require mastery of our cognitive domain.
Even with toddlers and preschoolers, stringing together 15 to 30 seconds of concentration on a task or movement skills:   well, many youngsters find sequencing 2-3 moves...difficult.
Maybe this quick skill drill might give you a clearer vision of your own youngster's state of mental processing.
Let's call this ONE Footed HOPPING.

1. Ask the child to 'pick' a leg to stand on.
2. Suggest that they stretch their hands/arms to the side, away from their body.
3. Ask them to keep their head and body TALL!
4. NOW: the skill check: HOP on that standing leg 3 times.
5. Ask them to STAY in the same spot!
6. Then ask them to control their STOPPING of the motion.

Can they hop in place three times and successfully control the end of the drill?
You might be surprised..that this seemingly simple task is tough for some children.
The brain's processing needs to have information send back and forth between the muscle and brain and back, in a rather smooth and rapid speed.
This is called motor sequencing. A child with the ability to perform three motor skills, in a row, is on their way to being able to master long and more complex motor patterns.
IF there were some problems, set out a practice time in a safe place and work on skills in a row.
Maybe you or someone in your family, might find the KidSKILLS Series of Movement and Sports Training Manuals, an aid in developing mastery of skills that will build that I Can Do That! confidence in children.
Browse the KidSKILLS site for more ideas on how to get young kids to move with mastery!

Tummy Tightener for kids

Tummy Tighteners for Kids: preschoolers though elementary grades, could make great gains in their sporting skills and body control with these exercises.

Why not teach your children the careful details of these tasks...then sit back and watch them thrive!

SUPER PERSON Squeeze

1. Ask the child to sit on their bottom.
2. Stretch their legs long in front.
3. Stretch their back TALL.
4. Place both hands behind the body, with support of arms.
5. Lift both straight legs with pointed toes: pointing to the ceiling.
6. LOWER the toes down to 2 inches OFF the floor. HOLD there.
7. Release the hands from behind the body and stretch BOTH HANDS forward over the straight legs. HOLD
8. Rest and repeat!

BE COMPACT

1. Start as above: bottom on floor and legs straight forward on floor.
2. Bend both KNEES and lift the knees [side-by-side] UP in front of the body.
3. DROP the arms and point the elbows toward the lifted KNEES.
4. HOLD for 5 counts.
5. REST and repeat.

Need more ideas look over the KidSKILLS Movement and Sports Training Manuals and Programs.  From tummy tighteners to coordination during play, we advocate for physical activity.

Foot Work for Kids

Good foot use:  makes all movement better for youngsters and oldster, too!
Got a minute or two with your child, perhaps while you are waiting in a line? Ask them to stand on on leg and lift their free knee UP high enough to place that free foot- BIG TOE on the inside of their supporting leg.
Make this a contest...how long can you stand on that one leg?
See if the two of you can count up to ten.
Let them rest another minute or two and then ....try the other leg.
Which leg stand was better?
Maybe the leg that gave better support is their stronger leg.

If you both decide that is true, next time you are at a place where is is safe to practice hopping.

Add a ball to pass under one lifted leg!

1. Take 5 hops [on the same leg] in place.
2. Then take 5 hops on the other leg.
3. Repeat for another 2 sets of one leg, then the other leg.
4. Rest again.

That is a great way to build:

• Body control
• Strength
• Balance
• Coordination
• Communication
• Self-regulation

Use as many simple kids skills:

• hopping
• jumping
• sliding
• walking
• running

with a set of instructions to follow:  listening skills will build as that mind-body connection strengthens.
When directing kids games, ask the children to use walks or runs or hops as they play.
Need some more ideas to train your children in kids skills visit our site.

Play Helps Emotions

Children's play is a vital part of their development.

• Emotionally
• Physically
• Psychologically
• Cognitively

The benefits of PLAY include the abilities to practice:

• Patience
• Empathy
• Social skills
• Creativity

The last concept: creativity can be nurtured through story-telling and broad ranging thinking. When guided by adults, the emotional regulation and enhanced psychological development that blends with pretend PLAY evokes executive thinking as expressiveness and sequencing occur as narratives are constructed.

When contributing to a dialogue and incorporating some movement and rhythmic elements, children's play brings unity to both body and mind as the neural system is exercised with the physical skill development.

If someone your know, teaching youngsters, the KidSKILLS Movement and Sports Training Manuals will provide a progressive series of tasks to develop that "I Can Do That!" confidence for kids!

KidSKILLS Training Book: Up & Over!

KidSKILLS Guides for Parents and Caregivers

IF you know someone who is teaching youngsters, ages 3 to 7, you might mention that Diane Massad of KidSKILLS International has released all 6 Training Manuals  in the KidSKILLS Movement and Sport Training Series. 

Feet First Manual 1:  for Balance and Strengthening Feet
Moving Right Along! Manual 2 : Footwork & Locomotion
Go! STOP! GO! Manual 3: Starting and Controlling Motion
Up and Over! Manual 4: Leaving the Ground
Making Muscles Manual 5: Developing Strength
Hang ON! Manual 6: Handling and Manipulating Objects

Each book in series of 6 Manuals presents 48 simple tasks for a child to try. The book provides illustrations of the task and the reader can use the text to guide the child's attempts.

The skills are progressively organized and each one offers a clear objective to make certain the success is experienced by the child. Cue words and vocabulary words will enrich the time spent between caregiver and child. Body positions are introduced and qualities of movement suggested to broaden creative side of physical activity.

The value of good teaching in developing fundamental movement skills provides an invaluable body-brain connection that is critical to ALL learning.

Whether a parent or a school teacher use the books, they will be able to encourage that I Can Do That! confidence for the youngsters. All the KidskILLS Manuals  are available in ebook format at Amazon.com