You’ve probably heard of gross motor skills, but what are they exactly? And why are they important? Gross motor development is fascinating. Watching a child's gross motor development starting as babies all the way to the teenage years is pretty neat! When my children were toddlers, I began doing quite a few fine motor activities at home. I realized I was doing fewer activities focused on gross motor skills, so I decided to make a change and start doing activities to help them develop those … [Read more...]
Apple Smash Activity
Happy September! When I think of September, I think of apples! This is the perfect time of year to do activities with apples. Preschoolers love it! Today I'm sharing an apple smash activity. Now I know it may sound strange to have your child smash things for an activity, but I promise there is purpose for this! Materials for Apple Smash about 20 cotton balls 1 cup flour 1 cup water red food coloring tin foil baking sheet whisk bowl fork foam poster board … [Read more...]
Brain Breaks for Kids
It’s vital to use brain breaks throughout the school day with children. These types of activities are used to activate, energize, and stimulate a child’s brain. When you incorporate brain breaks into your day, this helps improve a child’s ability to concentrate when you go back to classroom work. Research shows that children should have some sort of brain break every 25-30 minutes. You could use songs or chants with actions, games, fingerplays exercise, and more! Just a quick 5-10 minute break … [Read more...]
Wobbly Worm Toy Review
Disclosure: I received this toy for free and was compensated for my time reviewing it. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. We were so thrilled to receive the Wobbly Worm toy in the mail last week. As soon as we got this toy out of the box, we started playing with it. My boys were on spring break and were delighted to have a brand new toy to try out at home. I always am very honest with my reviews and I have to say the Wobbly Worm was a big hit at our house! This is a toy that has … [Read more...]
Bubble Wrap Fun
Today's play activity is very easy and it's probably something you already have at your house...playing with bubble wrap! Before I start, please make sure your child is old enough to play with bubble wrap. If they are toddlers and still put things in their mouth, this would not be a good activity to try. I rolled out bubble wrap on the floor. I let my preschooler explore the bubble wrap and have him try different ways to pop it! He jumped, rolled, crawled, and ran on it. Then … [Read more...]
How to Keep Preschoolers Busy with Newspaper
Before you throw out the newspaper, let me tell you about some awesome ways to practice motor skills and keep kids busy with just a newspaper! If you need a rainy-day activity or are looking for a way practice following directions and motor skills, then this is the activity for you! Start by placing a newspaper (folded in half) in front of your child. Explain that the newspaper is their house. Say the following directions to them: 1. Step onto your house. 2. Jump off your house with … [Read more...]
Feed the Caterpillar Activity + Life Cycle Activities
Yesterday I shared our caterpillar and butterfly crafts. Today I am sharing our Feed the Caterpillar Activity, which is a great activity for toddlers. In The Very Hungry Caterpillar book, the caterpillar is so hungry that he eats 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries, and 5 oranges and then he eats a bunch of junk food before finishing off with a big green leaf. In this activity, the child will feed fruit (foam pieces) to the caterpillar. This is a good movement activity and … [Read more...]
30 Outdoor Gross Motor Activities for Kids
Summer is the perfect time to work on gross motor skills outdoors! Today I am sharing a round-up of outdoor gross motor activities for children. Here are 30 fun outdoor gross motor ideas! (Click on the links below to take you directly to the post with more details!) Number Recognition Play from Danya Banya Walk the Word Phonics Game from Coffee Cups and Crayons Sum Splat! Learning with Water Balloons from I Can Teach My Child Hula Hoop Games from Learn, Play, Imagine Gross … [Read more...]
Motor Skills Practice {With a Bug Theme}
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Motor skills are very important to work on in the early years. Both fine motor and gross motor skills are equally important to work on. Today I’m sharing a gross motor and fine motor activity to do with toddlers or preschoolers with a bug theme (and we focused on ants, since that is the bug of the week!) Gross motor skills are the coordination of movements that are required for large movements. Some of these skills include running, hopping, … [Read more...]
Toddler Tuesday: Sensory Balloon Bugs
Don't you love a simple activity that keeps kids busy for hours? Well these sensory balloon animals are perfect for keeping little ones busy. A sensory balloon is filled with material that kids can squish around and it's really a great way for children to explore the sense of touch. These little critters are so much fun to squish around. Not only is this a sensory activity, it's also great for building up fine motor skills. When the kids squeeze the balloon animals, they build up hand … [Read more...]
