The floor is sometimes called ‘the child’s first playground’ because it offers so many possibilities for babies to practise some of their very first movement skills like rolling and crawling. Just because most children grow and develop into confident and competent movers who can walk, run and jump and hop with ease, don’t forget that they also need to revisit these ‘foundation’ skills as they effectively support the strength, agility, balance and co-ordination required for a range of physical disciplines.
What you need
What you need A clear space – not too big but big enough for children to move freely – and stickers or masking tape.
What to do
Invite your child/children to:
- lie on their backs and move their legs and arms, at the same time, out to the side and in again – it’s often called making ‘angels in the snow’. Try doing the movement as fast as possible
- next hold their toes and stay in this position for a few moments
- repeat the sequence until they are feeling a bit puffed
- lie on their tummies and move their arms and legs together out and in very quickly
- again hold their toes and stay in this position for a few moments
- get onto their hands and knees and crawl backwards and forwards in a straight line as fast as possible from one end of your chosen space to the other
- spin around on their bottoms as fast as possible
Place the stickers (or small pieces of masking tape) on the floor in a scatter pattern and invite your child/ren to:
- walk around the stickers on their knees (without falling over!) and touch each sticker with their hands
- move around the stickers on their knees as you play a piece of music. When you turn the music off, ask them to place a part of their body – for example, their elbow, thumb, chin, knee or heel – on the sticker they are nearest to
- stand up and step on tiptoes from one sticker to the other
- jump from sticker to sticker with feet together
- lie on their backs, then their tummies, and cover up as many stickers as possible, then lie quietly, rest and breathe deeply for a few moments
What’s in it for children
Any of these activities may be enjoyed by children either alone or with family. They need very little organisation and whatever available space you have will be enough to get them moving and a bit puffed. There are lots of opportunities to chat about how they feel – for example, hot, sweaty, puffed, tired, happy or strong – and there's time to revisit vocabulary about body parts and prepositions, such on, under and below.
Try to allow enough time for children to make their own decisions – for example, about where to place the stickers – and to follow through their ideas – for example, choosing a new position to balance in.
Physically children will be feeling stronger and more energised now as they are half way through the series. Remember you can always do more than one week at any one time – and let the children repeat the activities they most enjoyed whenever time and space permits.
Taking it forwards
- You can add a timing element to the activities – for example, how many ‘angels in the snow’ can you do in ten seconds or how many stickers can you touch before saying ‘stop'?
- Join in with simple races – for example, crawling from one end of your space to the other. Children will enjoy your participation, even if for a short time.
- Create a simple chart so children can plot their progress over time for activities they most enjoy and like repeating.
Next time, we'll explore how using a simple wall space can support physical activity.