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.