Holiday Tree Activity

Tis the season for holiday games! 

The game for this week involves: walking, squatting or kneeling, motor planning, color identification, visual scanning skills, bilateral skills, and fine motor skills.

You will need: 

 2 chairs for obstacles to walk around (think figure 8 pattern), pom pom balls, piece of paper with a tree drawn on it, glue stick or other glue

Procedure: 

Place chairs in middle of the floor (closer together makes the activity more difficult). Child will  
walk through the chairs in a Figure 8 pattern.

Place pom poms on one side of the room and tree on the other. You can scatter the pom poms to have the child scan for the color you call out or have them decide what color to bring back.


Once the child squats to retrieve the pom pom, have them walk back through the Figure 8 pattern.

They open the glue ( I have kids stand on a pool noodle that I have cut in ½ for extra balance practice), put glue on the tree, and attach the pom pom.

  

   Variations of this activity: crawling, assisted walking, sorting by colors, reaching for tree at various heights (waist level, shoulder level, on the floor)

This activity can be used for indoor recess, circle time, party activity, or when an activity break is needed.

For children that are visually impaired, you could use different textures too! See the link for a tactile Christmas Tree!

 

http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/tactile-christmas-tree-craft

With the holidays coming, be sure to keep moving!

Movement Matters- Whitney Carter PT, DPT

Don't Let Your Gobble Wobble!

As the holidays approach, it is time to discuss healthy choices and activity!



According to the CDC, childhood obesity has tripled since the 1970's. That means that 1 out of every 5 school aged children are now considered obese. This generation may very well be the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. What a terrifying thought!

Why is this? Some research points to a rise in sedentary activities like watching television and playing video games. Some research points to a decrease in P.E. times as children get older. Please see the following link for information directly linked to physical activity:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm

If children are not active and become obese they are more likely to develop diseases like diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, cancer, and depression.


So what do we do to combat this problem? The easy answer is- get moving!

Kids should play and play hard for 60 minutes a day. Make it a family affair! Lifestyle changes are difficult but with family support, the journey is more fun and manageable.



What can we do at school? Please see the link from the CDC for a comprehensive school plan:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/pdf/13_242620-A_CSPAP_SchoolPhysActivityPrograms_Final_508_12192013.pdf

Some schools offer after school clubs that are fitness oriented or weekend running clubs. This is a great way to encourage physical activity with peers and have fun practicing a healthy lifestyle!

A fun activity that you can do as a family over Thanksgiving is a scavenger hunt. We have a tradition of filling an empty mason jar with treasures that we find during a 60 minute hike around the family farm. Start your own tradition!

No matter what the activity is....just keep moving!

Movement Matters- Whitney Carter PT, DPT

Turkey Trot

As Thanksgiving approaches, it is a great time to introduce running/walking games like a Turkey Trot! 

Turkey Trots allow kids to keep track of their progress through counting laps either on an individual basis or in a team.

You can introduce other ideas and elements with a Turkey Trot and can build from 1 lap to 10 laps to improve overall endurance. 

Here are some ideas that you can include:

1.   You can use colored hair ties to track progress (laps run or walked) and make a graph after as a math lesson. For each lap completed, give the student 1 hair tie.
2. You can talk about healthy food choices and exercise during the holidays. This can be made into a relay by having “healthy choices” and “unhealthy choices” in picture form near the starting point (which could be a hula hoop). Place 2 other hula hoops across the room labeled as “healthy” and “unhealthy”. Have each student take a turn of selecting one item or activity (ex: watching football all day or taking a walk with the family). The student then runs down to place the choice in one of the hula hoops to decide which is a healthy or unhealthy choice. Take turns until all items are placed in the hula hoops and then discuss as a class.
3. Relay- have each student write what they are thankful for on a paper turkey feather and then run around the track to place their feathers on the turkey. Discuss the feathers as a class. See below for a link to a great site with activities: 

 http://earlyplaytemplates.blogspot.com/2014/11/thankful-thanksgiving-templates-black.html

 

Don't let your gobble start to wobble! Keep moving!

Movement Matters- Whitney Carter PT, DPT