Posts Tagged ‘gross motor skills’
My talented and creative sister-in-law started this tradition in 2008 and we decided to get on board, finally. Each November she celebrates NewVember where she tries to do something new everyday. Between her blog and Facebook statuses she’s done an amazing range of adventurous activities over the last few years. I’m always inspired by Ann.
So this year we are starting our own NewVember tradition. Yesterday we started our gratitude journals. Today we remembered to add to them at the last possible moment. Seriously. We had to wake Elli back up to find out what she was grateful for. She was so sleepy but got out “thank you healthy bodies” which sounds an awful lot like when she prays before a meal. Just too sweet.
So for today, we played in a leaf pile. This is new in comparison to last year when we didn’t rake a single leaf. Yeah, my last year’s pregnant self wasn’t that interested in taking care of the yard last fall. But to make it truly new, we added a favorite game of all three kids: peek-a-boo. Sammi loved getting all the way covered with leaves, over and over again. Elli loved covering her up, again and again. And Scott had a perpetual smile watching the whole thing go down. Check it out for yourself:
During all the fun, Elli and Sammi worked on their gross motor skills by scooping leaves and covering each other up. Elli practiced counting to ten and even made it to sixteen a few times. She loves the number three now, since it’s her age. And Scott practiced his gross motor skills by standing while holding on to my shoulder. He loves to be upright and to walk everywhere. I’m glad he’s finally tall enough that I don’t have to bend over when he holds my fingers and we walk, endlessly, around the house and anywhere else we are. Next I’ll be glad when he can do it without holding my fingers at all. Though his little fingers gripping my fingers is something precious.
What NEW thing will you do this month?
Please check out this week’s giveaway for Green Golly and Her Golden Flute.
I’ve asked readers several different questions that have been answered in the same way. I found it pretty interesting that a favorite rainy day activity, a favorite pre-dinner activity, and a favorite boredom-buster activity is cranking up the music and dancing!
Dance for little ones, basically, is moving to music.
Just about every young child I have watched listen to music instinctively moves to the beat. Moving to music seems to come naturally to little ones. But somewhere along the growing up path, dance becomes an anxiety-inducing word. Somewhere most of us develop a complex about how well we can move to a rhythm.
Over the last year I’ve posted about various ways to encourage dance through different movements. We’ve used rhythm ribbons. We’ve chosen songs with lyrics that guide movement and dance. I even put together the ebook Laptime Songs for Mommies to help you share music and action with your little ones.
You’d think maybe I’d be done with this topic, but I’m not! Last year I attended a training for laptime and storytime tellers at the Orem Library. One of the presenters focused on helping young children develop confidence in dancing. She gave me a new perspective on dance as well as some great tools for helping little ones move to music.
It’s not Dance; It’s Movement!
Her first piece of advice was to never call it “dance” because it affects children so immediately and often turns them off. She was talking specifically about elementary school age boys, so decided if that’s good advice for you and your little ones. Second she talked about focusing on movement. She guided children to move all the parts of their bodies and to move them through three sections of space around the body: high, middle, and low.
While the music was playing she gave suggestions of how children could move, e.g., sway arms high above your head. Then prepared them to make a choice when she said freeze. She’d give a rule like one arm and one leg need to be in the middle. Then when she said freeze the children would choose a pose that followed the rule. After hearing her presentation I was able to watch her program in action. It was fun to see how engaged the children were in trying to move their bodies following the rules and suggestions she gave.
Helping little ones have a positive experience with dance is another way to help them appreciate the performing arts. I love watching Sammi and Elli and envisioning them as ballerinas or contemporary dancers or ballroom professionals. At this young age the possibilities are endless and they have so much joy feeling the music and moving in response to it.
How do you and your little ones dance?
Brent came home early from school the other day with the brilliant idea to take the girls on a nature hunt. We drove to the start of a trail that would take us through two covered bridges and a tunnel. When we parked the car, we asked the girls to look around outside and help us make a list of the things we might see on our nature walk. With our list in hand, and a camera in each girl’s hand, we set out to find everything on our list.
Our list: We added to it as we saw new things like the water and little rocks
After looking at all the pictures, which item on our list did we NOT find? There was only one.
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I love the first snow of winter! I love the first morning we wake up and there is frost covering the grass. The novelty of winter is exciting. But, come January, I’m feeling a little blah with the cold and often inconvenient weather. I’ve noticed, though, that the girls see the snow with new eyes every time. They rarely tire of going out to play. Most of the time I don’t want to hassle with it, but when I embrace their enthusiasm for the outdoors we have a fantastic time. Here are some ideas for outside activities in the snow and when there’s no snow.
Enjoying the Snow
Build a snowman! We get excited about building a snowman by singing Once There Was a Snowman while we gather winter clothes for the snowman. When we lived in Utah and had lots of snow, we would also make chairs out of snow and the girls loved climbing in them.
Make a snow angel! When Sammi was just 7 months old we had a pretty good snowfall. I bundled her up in her pink snow outfit and plopped her in the snow on our back porch. It was THE cutest snow angel to date that I’ve ever seen. The pic doesn’t do justice, but I couldn’t just leave her in the snow to take a picture! (She could have moved and ruined the snow angel!)
Sledding! The first time Brent took Sammi sledding was last year around Christmas. She was hesitant at first, but Brent wrapped her securely in his lap and down a little hill they went. She loved it and wanted to go again and again. Brent’s fondest winter memories are when his mom would drop him and some of his siblings off at the park and they would sled for a couple of hours at a time.
Enjoying the Lack of Snow
Watch your breath! On a cold morning, bundle up and head out. We have been fascinated by seeing our breath. Sammi and Elli both have noticed the cloud of air on a cold morning. We talk about how it comes from inside our mouth or nose and that makes it warm. In the cold winter air, the warm air from us looks like a cloud. Sammi got the idea that she was making the cloud appear. It was a great little science lesson.
Go for a walk! I love to wrap the girls up in blankets in the stroller and walk around the streets surrounding our house. They love being outside and getting the fresh air, but they are still warm under the blankets. I appreciate getting out and moving as much as they do. We usually talk about how things look different in the winter: trees, grass, animals (winter coats), etc.
Relish the sunshine! Even in Utah we had sunny days in the middle of January or February. Here we have them a bit more often. So when it’s sunny, even if it’s still a bit chilly, we dress appropriately and head outside to soak in the sun. We’ve had fun kicking or throwing balls around in the backyard. We’ve also gone to the park and played on any equipment that wasn’t wet or muddy.
No matter what you do, it’s terrific to get outside in the winter. It’s good to experience the cold, briefly, and let little ones understand first hand why gloves, hats, scarves and coats are important. For us, that has reduced a lot of fighting over getting bundled up. We went to the park yesterday. And while it was wet and Elli somehow managed to plant her dirty shoes right on my chest, spending time outside, being active was just what the girls, and I, needed.
It is recommended that children of all ages get at least 60 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week. I know this winter has seen a drastic decline in the girls physical activity and I don’t know that we’re hitting that target. A lot of our activities are sedentary: reading books, crafts at the table, cooking meals, etc. I’m so glad for the great music we’ve discovered recently because that has really helped us get moving when we are indoors. Here are some additional ideas (year round) for indoors and outdoors activities to fill that 60 minute goal.
Comments on this post count as extra entries into the Winter Wonderland Carnival‘s giveaways: Everyone Loves To Dance by Aaron Nigel Smith, Personalized Gummi Labels by Sippy Stuff, This Is Me Journal and a Dress-Up Cape from BBGU! Make sure you read about all the ways to enter the Winter Wonderland Carnival!
What are some of your favorite winter outside memories either from your life or your children’s lives?
We’ve looked at using music for quiet time and using music to build emergent literacy skills, but today we’re going to look at making music the center of play. Using music to engage your little one in play is the main message of Laptime Songs for Mommies. The energy in an upbeat song is contagious, not just for our little ones, but for us as well!
It’s easy to get up and move around to songs like “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Another way to incorporate music into play is to use songs to help you teach games to your little ones. We had a fantastic experience this week with this. We listened to Aaron Nigel Smith’s Simon Says
What music do you turn on when it’s time to play? A comment on today’s post is an extra entry in this week’s giveaway!
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I was at the health department last month and picked up an information card highlighting milestones of child development for little ones birth through 4 years old. I thought it fitting to share with you as it has great things to look for in your little ones as they change month to month.
The purpose of the CDC’c campaign “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” is to help parents and healthcare providers catch the signs of developmental delays and disorders early so resources and treatments can begin as early as possible thus allowing children the maximum benefit from those resources and treatments.
I’ve been blessed with two healthy little ones so I love this information from a “oh ya, she does that now!” perspective. But my best friend from high school just told me that her second child was recently diagnosed with high functioning autism. A label to the behavior somehow seems to change the whole experience. Sometimes it’s in a good way because now real information and solutions become available. But sometimes it’s in a negative way when there’s denial or an uncooperative attitude from a parent or teacher. I think information is the key to understanding. That coupled with the love we have for our little ones will get us and them far in this life.
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway and helped spread the word. It makes it possible for us to continue offering great products through our giveaways.
The winner of the VTech Ride and Learn Giraffe Bike is Lynn who suggested after dinner walk as a way to keep kids active. We love after dinner walks at our house, too! Lynn, I’ve sent you an email. Please respond today or another winner will be chosen and announced tomorrow!
I still have two more giveaways lined up before Christmas, so stay tuned for details on those.
Enter to Win=
One Less Present to Worry About!
I received a flattering email the other week wondering if I’d like to work with VTech for the holiday season. I was excited about the possibility. I’ve recently been wondering if it’s time to introduce a few more techy toys into Sammi’s collection. I’d looked at VTech’s Bugsby Reading System and at LeapFrog’s ClickStart but was a bit hesitant about making the transition.
I read through the press release describing the various products they have released for the holiday gift-giving season. My attention was drawn to a Ride and Learn Giraffe Bike (18-36 months) that Elli is just getting old enough for. The review included in the press release says, “The buttons are very easy to push and we love that their are so many animals to choose from!… I love the whole “keep kids active” idea…This line of toys is setting a good message and we are thinking of getting [my son] the “weights” so he can use his instead of mine when we work out! – Amanda, Lady Evelyns’ Blog“
I like the sound of that! I’ve tried to work out a few times while the girls are awake and it’s always Elli that dashes my hopes of exercising for longer than 5 minutes. I was offered my choice of toy to review or to giveaway. After giving a lot of thought to the matter, I was filled with the gift-giving spirit of the season. So, although I’ve not tested this product myself, I’ve agreed to host the giveaway on behalf of VTech.
Enter to Win VTech’s
Ride and Learn Giraffe Bike*
Value: $49.99
To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. I’d love to know your thoughts on ways to help kids stay active.
For additional entries, you can link to this post using this: http://bit.ly/8EOxiK
on Facebook, Twitter, or your own blog (10 entries). Just leave another comment telling me what you did.
You can also share this post on Delicious, Kirtsy, StumbleUpon or any other social bookmarking tool you use. Again, please leave an additional comment telling me what you did.
Good luck and have fun spreading the holiday cheer!
*This giveaway is open to US residents. The giveaway will be open until Monday, December 7 at midnight EST. The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced Tuesday December 7. The winner must contact me with shipping information on Tuesday. If no contact is made by the winner, a new winner will be chosen and announced Wednesday, Dec 8.
The photo-elusive (took 23 pics to get this one!) Elli has picked up a new trick this week. She has started standing up from a squatted position. Last week she stood up holding on to me and then let go for a few milliseconds, but this week it’s entirely about balance!
The first time she stood for a long time she happened to have a pair of child-safety scissors in her hand. I know, I know, I’ll have to review my own guidelines for teaching children how to use scissors. I was so excited to see how long she could stand without losing her balance, but I was also worried about hose scissors. In the end I didn’t disturb her and just waited for her to sit again before I promptly removed the scissors from her hand. I wasn’t about to run for the camera at that point!
This morning we made a stop at the Harrogate City Hall (I’ll explain that in a future post) and the two gals that were there thought Elli was just so cute. So to get their attention, Sammi started telling them how Elli is learning to stand. She did a perfect re-enactment that made us all smile. Then Elli caught wind of what was going on so she promptly joined the attention seeking and started to stand up. She did it great the first time. The gals oohed and ahed which encouraged Elli to do it again. She had such a grand time that she kept losing her balance as she giggled and hid her head in the floor. It was performance at its best!
While this is probably the norm (to stand before walking) it’s a new development path in this house. When Sammi was about 14 months she started walking. I remember starting to wonder if Sammi would really ever walk. She seemed so old and so heavy! But she did it. The first time we left her with a sitter, no less. But she propelled herself by momentum. If she lost her balance or ran out of steam, she fell right over. She didn’t learn how to just stand until she’d been walking for well over a week. However children do it and whenever they decide it’s time, they’ll get it eventually!
First an explanation and apology: So Brent’s been gone about 2 weeks now at training for the Air Force. Before he left I thought it would be great to use the time in the evening after the girls were in bed to blog, catch up on reading and get the house work done. Maybe even some of my sewing projects, too! That was so naive! The truth, I’ve been completely exhausted and when I sit down, I have the hardest time getting back up again. I’ve completely lost my stamina and I feel like my brain shuts off at 8:10 when the girls are finally asleep. Ugh. It’s been a lot harder than I thought it would be. I apologize for not posting more regularly the last couple of weeks. My goal is to be better! But, we’re also moving in three weeks so I’m working on packing up the house.
Just as not all children crawl at the same age, not all children crawl the same way! The standard image of crawling is the baby on hands and knees with belly lifted off the ground. Other forms of crawling include the army crawl where the baby sprawls on the floor and uses arm strength to pull his body along; the scoot where the baby is in a sitting position and scoots her body to her feet then extends the feet out and scoots the body again; the hand-foot crawl where the baby moves along on hands and feet instead of knees. Most babies perfect one or more of these forms of movement before learning to walk.
It’s vitally important to note, though, that crawling is NOT a standard developmental milestone. It’s perfectly acceptable for babies to bypass the standard image of crawling all together and get right to walking. I have heard tell that babies who don’t crawl but go straight to walking are poor readers. From the academic research I found, that information is not supported. I did find some rather interesting stuff, though!
Crawling is a complex system of movement. Babies must learn and master a long list of skills before finally figuring out how to put them all together to crawl. Obviously babies must learn how to hold their head up and how to get up on their hands and knees. But they also must learn how to rock back and forth while on their hands and knees. Finally, they need to learn how to move opposite arms and legs simultaneously, i.e., right arm out with left leg back. This skill is learned and improved as babies learn to reach for objects and begin to realize they can move their whole body in order to reach a desired object.
Once babies learn to sit, they pick up on clues about depth perception in their surrounding environment. When children have been sitting alone for a while, they are able to make good decisions about how far to reach for objects and whether they should reach for objects across an open space. When babies become crawlers, they have to relearn the appropriate clues to depth at this new level. That’s why new or inexperienced crawlers will crawl right off the edge of the bed or stairs after an object (or an older sister like Elli did earlier this week!) With practice, though, babies learn what’s safe and what’s not. The next time Elli approached the stairs she backed up, sat up and looked at me for help! They learn so fast.
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