Large Motor Skill Activities
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Active Movement

Rolls

Lie crosswise on the floor and roll sideways. Arms may be at the side or overhead.

Gallop

Gallop like a horse. Gallop in place. Gallop slowly, then gradually faster.

Skip

Skip happily to school. Skip with a make believe kite. Skip with a make believe dog.

Fitness Trails

Have children dress appropriately and hit the fitness trails for a variety of exercises

Breathing

Stand up straight, arms overhead as high as possible. Fill your lungs with air. Bend your knees, let your head and arms drop forward, noisily blow out air.

Jump

Alone or with a friend? Eyes open or closed? One foot or two? Forwards or backwards?

Jump the brook

Lay ropes, blankets, hula hoop down on the floor. Children jump over the puddles or brook. Try jumping on one foot. Jump backwards. Make the pile larger. Let the children think of different ways to jump.

Jack Be Nimble

Tie a piece of colored cloth between two chairs. Step back and forth over it while chanting "Jack be Nimble, Jack be quick Jack jump over the candle stick.

Tummy Rocks

Lie on tummy. Raise legs and arms and shoulders at the same time. For a more difficult exercise, have arms in the overhead position. Agile children can grasp their ankles and rock gently

Touch the Line

Make a circle with masking tape on the floor. Everyone stands around the circle and each person takes a turn telling the group a part of the body to touch down to the line.

Newspaper Run Through

Two people hold a sheet of newspaper up for the children to run threw.

Special Walks


Shadow Walk

Walk only in shadows.

Penny Walk

Flip a penny at each corner - heads turn left, tails turn right

Treasure Hunt

Give each child a different number. The child hunts around he room for his treasure that has that number on it.

Obstacle Course

Make an obstacle course with chairs, hula hoops, pillows for the children to climb under, over and threw.

Bean Bag Play


Hacky Sac

Bounce the beanbag off your feet, knees or head. See how many times you can consecutive hit it without it dropping.

Footbag Golf

Choose a few landmarks, trees, posts and mark them with bright ribbons. Players move from target to target trying to hit the target by kicking a beanbag at it. The object is to do it with the least amount of kicks.

Push and Pull

Ask each child to sit on the floor, legs apart, facing a partner. With their feet touching, ask children to grasp hands. While one partner leans back, the other gently pulls him or her forward. Invite children to take turns leaning and pulling.

Winter

Hang an aluminum pie tin from the tree. Show children how to make snowballs. Throw the snowballs at the target.

Tag


Elbow Tag

The children pair up in partners leaving one person as " it" and one without a partner. All of the partnered children link elbows with their partner. " It" chases the lone player who runs up and links elbows with on e pair. The person on the end of that pair breaks away and becomes the one pursued.

Hospital Tag

Everyone is " it" and stays in the game for three tags. When a player is tagged the first time, he holds an "injured body part while he tries to tag people with their free hand. During the second tag, players hold two injured parts of their body and make tags without using any hands. By the third tag, it's time to go to the hospital

Ankle Tag

In order to take a break from running, and be safe, players need to hold their ankles. Once they let go, they need to start running again.

Sun Tag

Show the children how a reflection works from the sun to a mirror to another object. Give each child a mirror and show them how to tag one another with the reflection.

Tree Tag

When a person is tagged, he freezes and sticks out both arms like tree limbs. He then becomes a partner with it and tries to tag people as they run by.

Wolf and Sheep Tag

One child is the sheep, one the wolf and the others the sheep dogs. If there are more than five people you may choose to have two or more sheep. The sheep and sheep dogs make a circle or triangle and twirl around protecting the sheep from the wolf. The wolf races around the circle trying to tag the sheep.

Soda Bottle Exercises

Place soda bottles in a line. Have the children follow the trail winding between the bottles.

Place the bottles along a wall. Have the children throw bean bags or sock balls at them.

Play bowling with them.

Place bottle on a low balance beam. Have children step over them as they go across the beam.

Fill some bottles 1/4 full of sand. Use them as goals to kick a ball between.

Balance Beam

Walk

heel-toe, backwards, sideways - both ways, turn around, hop, crawl

Form a line on each side of the balance beam. Children must cooperate to pass each other to pass without falling off.

Body Painting

Everyone puts on their oldest bathing suits, then go out to the yard and get creative. Finger-paints or foaming both paints. After they are done, get out the buckets and scrub their canvases clean!

Parachute

Toss a few lightweight balls on top. Pretend they are popcorn. Challenge the children to roll the balls gently from side to side

Sit in a circle holding on the edges of a parachute. Raise the chute up and peek at each other under it. toss a light weight ball on top of the blanket. How height can you make it bounce Raise and lower hands to make the parachute move. Call out names of two children to run under and switch places.

Have every other child run under the parachute once it is moving. Run in, run out> Switch positions as the parachute is in the air.

Make it ripple gently

Shake it hard.

Toss a few lightweight balls on the parachute. Bounce them, roll them.

Milk Jug Scoops

Cut the bottom off milk jugs to make scoops. Place a bean bag in the scoop, toss it up and catch it. Find a partner to play catch with.

Races

Balance bean bags on your heads and race.

Have a potato foot race - balance a potato on each foot and walk on your heels.

Frog races - Squat down and hold onto your ankles

*Submitted by Sherry

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