A Plan for Art and Action - week 4

This week our plan fell apart. It was just a crazy week and we didn't get to do most of the activities we had intended. I'm not sure my planning is helping much, and these posts are becoming very repetitive (instead of sparking creative, new ideas).

What do you think? Should I start posting on the past week, what we actually accomplished? Or maybe start posting about individual activities?

While attending "My Gym" this week with my two kids, I noticed again how delayed my little boy is with his running skills. He "runs" (if it can even be called that) like a young toddler, even though he is three years old. This is because of weakness in his core muscles. We need to spend some more time on this in the coming months.


Gross motor development:

• Sand Box play - encourage pushing, pulling and lifting of sand filled trucks, buckets, etc.
  


• Balance on One Foot – I'm going to fill some empty bottles with colored water and have him place one foot on the bottle. It gives a little more balance, while providing a game-feel to the activity. We didn't get to this activity last week.


• Marching – to help with the coordination and strength necessary to run. “We Are The Dinosaurs” is a great song; and I'll be looking for a few others. The key to this exercise getting him to swing his arms correctly, with his limbs kept close to his body.
  

Fine motor development:

• Lacing Beads - my son was not interested in the beads last week, but I'm not ready to give up on them just yet.
  


• Cutting with scissors – cutting paper, play dough, anything with a fun texture.
  

I would love to hear what you think. As I asked above ... Should I start posting on the past week, what we actually accomplished? Or maybe start posting about individual activities?

A Plan for Art and Action - week 2

Last week I had a great plan for days of fun, but I ended up a little less productive and "fun" because of persistent migraines. But we are going to try again this week, with a less aggressive plan.

The only part of the plan that we really worked on was the gross motor development. The other activities are the same as last week.

Gross motor development:

• Obstacle Course – my son loved the obstacle course. This will stay on the list for another week.
  


• Balance on One Foot – I just add this activity anytime, like while waiting at the grocery store or the doctor’s office.


• Jumping – this also works anytime. Sometimes when we are on a walk, we’ll jump over cracks.
• "Car" Rides – for animals in laundry basket, both kids love pushing the basket around the house. We never got to this last week, but will try again this coming week.
  

Fine motor development:

• Lacing Boards – we will first need to make the boards (see crafts projects below).


• Clothes Pin Game – not sure what the game is yet, but it includes pinching the clothes pin open to work those little fingers.


• Tissue Paper Creations – this is a fun craft project that really encourages fine motor development (see craft projects below for more details).

Speech development:

• "Going on a Bear Hunt" – Using this song and the book as a launching point, we will go on our own bear hunt (maybe becoming a bear at some point, walking like a bear to throw in some gross motor exercises).


• Music and Dancing – “We Are The Dinosaurs” and “The Airplane Song” from Whaddaya Think of That? by Laurie Berkner will be our primary songs. This activity is great for speech and gross motor skills.

Arts and Crafts:

• Make Lacing Boards
• Decorate Clothes Pin Game
• Tissue Paper Creations – using sheets of tissue paper, fold, cut/tear, and scrunch the paper; then glue the little balls onto a piece of construction paper.

Kitchen Fun:

• Blueberry Muffins

There may still be too many activities for the week, but hopefully this will be a "normal" week and we can better gauge how many activities we can accomplish in a week.

Enjoy your week of art and action.

A Plan for Art and Action

As promised in 31 Days of Crafts for kids ... and more, I am publishing this week’s list of activities to do with my children.

Gross motor development:

• Obstacle Course – this is great game, especially when you are stuck indoors (check out the recent pictures at our family blog). Here are some of my ideas for both indoor and outdoor versions.
  

indoor – step up on stool, jumping, tunnel (or crawling under a table), bouncy horse (balancing/ jumping), “crazy” walk (bear, frog, crab, wheel barrow, etc)

outdoor - rock wall climbing at playground, balance beam (walk along curb or low ledge), jumping, stepping up and down

• "Car" Rides – for animals in laundry basket, both kids love pushing the basket around the house.


• Balance on One Foot – I just add this activity anytime, like while waiting at the grocery store or the doctor’s office.


• Jumping – this also works anytime. Sometimes when we are on a walk, we’ll jump over cracks.

Fine motor development:

• Lacing Boards – we will first need to make the boards (see crafts projects below).


• Clothes Pin Game – not sure what the game is yet, but it includes pinching the clothes pin open to work those little fingers.


• Tissue Paper Creations – this is a fun craft project that really encourages fine motor development (see craft projects below for more details).

Speech development:

Note: My son’s speech issues center around his creative language. He is very limited in his creative and pretend play, and this has limited his speech development. Most of these activities focus on pretend play and music.

• Tents and tunnels – we are going to turn our living room into a big tent.


• "Going on a Bear Hunt" – Using this song and the book as a launching point, we will go on our own bear hunt (maybe becoming a bear at some point, walking like a bear to throw in some gross motor exercises).


• Music and Dancing – “We Are The Dinosaurs” and “The Airplane Song” from Whaddaya Think of That? by Laurie Berkner will be our primary songs. This activity is great for speech and gross motor skills.

Arts and Crafts:

• Make Lacing Boards
• Decorate Clothes Pin Game
• Tissue Paper Creations – using sheets of tissue paper, fold, cut/tear, and scrunch the paper; then glue the little balls onto a piece of construction paper.

Kitchen Fun:

• Blueberry Muffins

We are excited about a fun week of activities and play. I may have planned too many (or too few) activities. I’ll adjust the plan in the coming weeks, once I have a better feel for how this works.

This is a really long post. Did I include too much information? Or would you like to see more specifics? Let me know if you would like more details on any of the activities I have listed.