Being active and body awareness
Young children need lots of opportunity to be physically active, especially through play involving running and jumping, pushing and pulling, lifting and carrying, throwing, stretching and hanging. These experiences give a sense of well-being, develop vital body awareness and contribute to the child's growing feelings of who they are.
Resources
* wheeled vehicles * carts * wheelbarrows * pushchairs * chalk *stepping stones * crates * logs * small tyres * wooden * planks and blocks * pulleys * buckets * bags and baskets 3brooms 3spades 3rakes 3long and short ropes * bubbles * feathers * leaves * ribbons * bells * scarves * CDs of lively music * balls *beanbags * quoits * hoops * small parachute * Five Little Monkeys (action rhymes) by Zita Newcome (Walker Books) * Bumpus jumpus dinosaurumpus! by Tony Mitton and Guy Parker-Rees (Orchard Books)
Children can:
* Run together and chase each other in open spaces
* Jump or take giant steps between stepping stones; jump off a low wall or milk crate
* Dance and twirl with ribbons and scarves to salsa music and jigs
* Chase and leap after bubbles, feathers and leaves
* Make shadow monsters, dance with or try to run away from their shadow
* Skip, jump and play tug-of-war with ropes
* Act out rhymes such as 'The Grand Old Duke of York' and 'This is the way the lady rides'
* Lift and carry bags, baskets or buckets filled with pebbles, sand or water
* Carry big items to make an obstacle course, den or other large construction
* Dig with long-handled spades; rake and sweep sand, leaves and puddles
* Push, pull and manoeuvre ride-upons, bikes, carts, pushchairs and prams; add challenge by chalking out a winding path or by adding a slope or ramp to the track
* Load and push wheelbarrows with sand, cobbles or wooden blocks
* Thread a rope into a crate and pull it along, or pull a friend along on their bike
* Throw balls and beanbags into large baskets or targets chalked on walls or the ground; roll, catch or kick large soft balls
* Explore how to lift and lower a bucket of sand with a rope and pulley
* Climb a rope tied to a fence; use ropes to pull each other up a slope or steps
* Lift their legs off the ground while hanging from monkey bars or a low tree branch
* Stretch, tug and shake in parachute games.
