Incorporating Movement in Activities (Birth-Preschool)

Now that you know how important movement is for a child's development, here are a few tips and hints on how you can incorporate movement in your activities for children Birth through Preschool.

Infant Movement Activities:

• It's All About Tummy Time!

It is recommended by The American Academy of Pediatrics to place babies on their backs to sleep and their tummies to play as part of a daily routine. Tummy time helps develop the muscles in their back, neck, and trunk, all of which are important to meet all their infant development milestones.

Here is a video showing the top 5 tummy time moves you can do as soon as your baby is born:

Pathways.org

 

 

• Massage the babies to wake up their awareness of body parts
• Waltz with the baby in your arms
• Sing nursery songs and move the baby's body in rhythm to stimulate their motor development
• With the use of big balls, you can roll babies, tip and tilt, and bounce them on top once they are sitting up independently
• Use quality instruments for them to shake
• March, slide, skip, and turn with the baby in your arms to develop their beat competency
• TAKE THEIR SOCKS OFF (much of their sensory receptors are at the bottom of their feet) and give them inviting spaces to practice their motor skills

1-2 Year Olds Movement Activities:

• Sing nursery rhymes and chants with the Basic Neurological Patterns (upper/lower, body side or homo-lateral, and body cross or cross lateral)
• Dancing with scarves and streamers
• Marching, sliding, turning, forward, backwards, up, down, side to side movements
• Simple Obstacle courses

Wobbler/Toddler Obstacle Course

• Play with quality instruments
• Simple circle social dances (Come in and say hello, go out and say goodbye, and slide around the circle

3-5 Year Olds Movement Activities:

• Body Puzzle Shapes
• Instruments to play with
• Partner dances with friends (mirroring one another or shadowing behind)
• Obstacle courses that include balancing, moving backwards and using other gross motor skills
• Movement stories
• Playing with streamers and scarves while listening to music
• Brain Dances