I found this article online and thought you might find some good ideas for teaching your children movement skills at home!
- Hop to it. After breakfast, hop or skip to the bathroom to brush their teeth. If one-foot hopping, don’t forget to switch legs.
- Catch a snack. Instead of putting snacks directly into their backpacks, throw them instead! This works well with oranges, apples, and boxes of raisins.
- Sock toss. While the kids put away their laundry, have them toss a rolled up sock into the air in front of them and then catch it with their non-dominant hand. When this becomes easy, get them to do it while moving around.
- Step on the crack. During the morning walk to school, develop balance by walking along cracks in the sidewalk as if they were a tightrope.
- Be a stork. At the grocery store (or anywhere else you’re waiting in line), balance on one foot. Don’t forget to change feet!
- Kick it. On the way home from school, kick a rock along the sidewalk. The purpose is to keep the same rock in play and not to kick it too hard or too far.
- Stair jump. If your kids are old enough to do this safely, have them try walking backwards down the stairs or jumping up the stairs with both feet.
- Do the can-can. While the kids are helping put away groceries, challenge them to balance cans on the palms of their hands.
- Backwards brush. Before bed kids can brush their teeth with their non-dominant hand (but make sure they go back over them with their dominant hand to avoid an angry dentist).
- Laundry shoot. Throw dirty clothes into the laundry basket by shooting them in from a couple of feet away. As their accuracy improves, increase the distance.
Even choosing just one of these a day will help your kids develop skills like balance, throwing, catching, jumping, and kicking.
