Young children need physical activity every single day, so how can we do that if we aren’t getting outside because of cold and wet weather?
Lots of materials can be used indoors or outdoors to promote physical development. Aside from getting fresh air, physical activity can be incorporated into daily circle or even music/movement activities. You can create some fun activities depending on your space available.
Active learning should always be incorporated into your daily routine. On days that weather permits, outdoor planned activities that focus on gross motor are beneficial. Here are some materials that can be used indoors to promote physical play:
- Bean bags
- Scarves
- Hula hoops
- Small hand balls
- Ample space
- Music
- Chairs
Music can create some great activities to get bodies in motion. There are songs like the Cha Cha Slide or Freeze Dance to help you accomplish this. If you have access to the internet and a tablet, you can look up a wide variety of songs. Facilitating these dances is always important so that the children are not focused on the screen. This means that you should learn the dance moves to the song prior to introducing it to your students to effectively facilitate.
Consider these fun activities that you can create using the materials listed above:
- Bean bags – bean bag toss, coordination, balancing on head
- Scarves – music and movement activities, waving the scarves in the air
- Hula hoops – dancing, hula hooping or hopscotch with the hoops on the floor
- Small hand balls – tossing, rolling, bouncing
- Space – moving furniture for maximum participation
- Music – specifically, choose songs with directions for movement (YouTube or cds with movement songs)
- Chairs – musical chairs
- Simon Says – offers physical activity directions such as hopping, jumping, running in place, kick right leg up, kick left leg up, etc.
Active learning should be incorporated into your daily lessons, but extra care can be taken into materials available, music, and activities to make it possible. Planning ahead of time when inclement weather is expected is also important. Let children know that indoor physical activity will take the place of outdoor time due to weather. Explain the available activities and what they can do with them. They may not normally be allowed to toss balls or bean bags inside, so directions must be clear and explained that this activity is being done indoors only due to the weather.
This blog post was written by CDS Program Specialist, Najiyyah Abdullah. To learn more about trainings and other services our team provides, visit here.
