Gross Motor: Today's Child

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Back to Today's Child updated3/3/00
Gross Motor
large muscle, active, inactive, outdoor, indoor, daily living activities
What is involved?	Movement Skills
body awareness movement awareness spatial awareness predicting timing reacting to directions problem solving assessing and adapting muscle-memory coordination control motor-recall judgments	Locomotion walking running skipping jumping hopping galloping chasing fleeing dodging climbing crawling	Manipulation throwing catching collecting kicking rolling punting dribbling volleying striking squeezing pushing	Stabilization bending stretching twisting turning rolling balancing transferring curling landing flexing hanging
Active Play "Kids... I wish I had their energy!" We say it, but take a look at children today and you may see that they are not as active as they should be!	Leading active (outdoor) activities ensures children are getting their twenty minute workout each day. Active play builds good physical habits and fitness levels, but it also develops their understanding and control of their bodies, as listed above. The active play also provides basic awareness skills around physics and science --judging distance, speed, power. Take the physical and add an academic component and the whole-child is benefiting!

The challenges and exploration of outdoor play also build self-esteem.
Trials, accomplishments, and enduring frustration and disappointment enhance confidence and the ability to take risks.

Most gross motor activities also involve other participants. By engaging in group activities, children learn about important social rules: how to compromise, how to work as a team, how to be assertive, how to deal with different personality styles, etc. And by becoming efficient at these skills, children's self-confidence grows and then, again, their self-esteem.

Also, by providing them with the basic skills of the group activities we open up the opportunity to be part of the team -- "yes I can play baseball, or soccer".

Experience, experience, experience! Provide children with a variety of experiences, to enhance all areas of their development: from physical, to intellectual, to social, to artistic.

Self-Esteem

Providing opportunities to develop skills and potential improves a child's self-esteem and self-confidence.

Don't judge a book by its cover! And yet we consistently judge children by what they can do!
Are we giving them the tools and skills needed to feel successful?
Are we helping them increase their potential, their ability, their confidence?

Needing Some Music ?

Check out Chapters!

Sites Full of Activities Today's Child: Photography as a tool PE Central: the best of the best! On the Other Side of the Wall: Limited Space Activities Lesson Plans Game Kids Drama Guide (includes some active games)	Some Things To Do demonstrate proper way to use equipment ask kids to brainstorm activities large space is conducive to freedom of artistic expression solve math problems to determine repetitions required travel across Canada (one lap equals 100 miles)
Some More Activities

Not in My Backyard	Have kids create paper balls....increase the learning by asking them to make them 3" in diameter! How do you do that? form groups of 3 (by colour of hair) then groups of 2 (birthday). You now have partners but without hurt feelings partners stand on opposite sides of a line (real or imaginary) and take 6 steps backwards (you now have 2 teams) on "go" they throw their paper balls into the other team's 'backyard'; picking them up off their side and returning them quickly to the other side. on "RECYCLE" kids count how many are on each side. Enhance the learning by challenging them to get the same amount of paper balls on each side. Use 'guess-timating', and math formulas to determine equal number teams must then work together to solve the challenge.
Oscar the Grouch	find a large box to use as the garbage can select someone to be 'Oscar' and have them sit inside the box kids use their paper balls (or rolled up mittens) as 'garbage' to put in the box. as they throw it IN the box, 'Oscar' throws it back out again again, challenge them to put as many INSIDE the box as outside... how do you determine the number needed inside? How do you work together to make it happen?
Where's My Habitat	discuss animals and their habitats describe the individual habitats -- creating a list of words along one side of chart paper for each habitat have children create a picture or poster depicting the habitat along side the word list laminate the posters if possible outside, mount the posters around the play area as children move in a specific way (hop, run, walk) around a certain area of the play area, call out an animal and a new movement (ex. Giraffes, gallop in zigzag direction) and have them move to their habitat note that some animals live in more than one habitat .. have children state their reasons for choosing the habitat that they did

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