Kids benefit from a wide range of different activities that build all kinds of critically important skills that ensure they are ready for a great year at school. Your children will be having such a good time that they won’t even realise that they are in fact developing these skills.
- When the weather is good focus on outdoor activities that build gross motor movement. Climbing, jumping or moving around are all great ways of building muscle strength and nurturing an active and healthy body.
- If you have bicycles, scooters or tricycles available, now is the time to take them out.
- Make it competitive by creating a mini-Olympics with a whole range of different activities that need to be completed within a certain time frame.
- Good old hopscotch is still a favorite or even kicking a ball and jumping for balloons or bubbles.
- Many children don’t find small motor movement easy – and yet this is an important skill for writing, turning pages and even using a computer keyboard. Children learn how to use the smaller muscles in their hands, fingers and wrists. And no, swiping on the Ipad doesn’t qualify as improving fine motor movement…
- Painting and arts and crafts are excellent ways of building these skills.
- Using the bricks for kids in the Yay4Play activity packs is one of the best possible ways of developing small motor movement. Children have to click the bricks together, form towers and also use pegs to lift and place the bricks.
- They’ve also got the poppit fidget toys included so that children learn to use their fingers to press harder whilst holding onto the frame of the poppit.
- Develop confidence so that completing school tasks and homework become a whole lot easier. Self-belief is also an important part of social and emotional development.
- Invite your child to use their bricks or any other toys they might have at home so that it tells a story. The story is about: This is what I am really good OR This is why I am proud of the things I can do OR What I did last year that I am really proud of. Don’t consider this as a form or bragging or being boastful. It’s a way of asking your child to speak about themselves in a positive way.
- And of course, there’s the talent show. If your child has some siblings or family friends around, ask them to put together a talent show where they can demonstrate anything that they are good at – it could even be using the bricks for kids to construct tall towers or anything else worthy of a round of applause.
These kids’ activities will keep everyone occupied for many hours. Isn’t that so much better that sitting passively in front of the TV or playing games on a phone?
Order our Yay4Play activity packs for kids – they are an ideal way to have fun and build skills at the same time.