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Water activities for pool, lake, or rub (be prepared to get splashed!). Hold a ball and ask the child to hit it with his hands (right and left), elbows, knees, feet. If swimming lessons are available, enroll your youngster. The earlier, the better.
Just tossing a ball from parent to child is excellent for eye-hand coordination as well as large muscles. Don't let the activity get boring. Vary it by asking the child to kick the ball (using alternate feet) or batting it (with alternate hands). Ball size is important. Large enough for a success experience. Small enough for a challenging experience.
Don't forget beanbags-quite a different experience from throwing or catching a ball. Let the child toss and catch it himself-standing, sitting, lying down, alternate hands. Can he catch it on the top of his hand? a shoulder? a knee? a foot?
Differing chairs. The child sits down and gets up from chairs and stools of varying heights, descending and standing up slowly and without using his hands. The lower the chair, the more difficult the task.
Kangaroo hop. Have the child hold something (for example, a beanbag-or if you want to make it difficult, an apple or an orange) between his knees, then jump with feet together. Front wards, backwards, sideways.
Save your large bleach bottles. With the bottoms cut off, they make nice scoops for catching games, using tight objects such as a whiffle ball or beanbag.
Wheelbarrow. Hold the child's legs white he "walks', with his hands along a marked route.
Find a place where the child can see his shadow. Then see how creative you can be in directing his activities: "Make your shadow tall, short, wide, thin, make it jump, stand on one foot, touch its feet," etc.
Most of the activities that have been described can, for the most part, be done inside or out. It is important that they be done in a spirit of good fun and recreation. Once they become a chore, the child, either subtly or overtly, will decrease his effort and the sought after physical development will diminish. The secret probably ties in offering a variety of activities with an attitude of good cheer. And there may be a bonus - parents may discover that they, too, are in better shape!
next: Birth Order
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