In the past, children were more likely to spend time outdoors: they ran, walked and jumped more, and they used up a lot of energy. Now they usually play indoors. They move much less, and what they eat has many more calories than food twenty years ago. Due to the nature of computers, TV sets, the Internet and games, they are often not motivated to go outside. They "move" on a computer keyboard and a mobile phone much more efficiently than on the playground or yard. Already 80% children aged 2 to 5 use the Internet regularly - at least once a week. (Source: Report Always Connected: the new digital media habits of young children, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, 2011, USA).
Parents also prefer to spend this time more stationary - at home. There is no need to require children to want to play in the yard themselves, until mom and dad leave the TV and start an active lifestyle.
Let's show children how fun it is to kick a ball, rummage in the ground, chase or just play outdoors. Children do not need any sets of exercises, it is enough for them to find opportunities to move interesting and develop different muscle groups. It is worth remembering that the exercise time does not have to be strictly defined, it is better to follow the child's behavior. When a toddler starts to get bored (e.g. sit down, whine, walk away), it is a sign that the activity must be stopped. You can come back to it on another day and suggest something else. This is supposed to be fun, not a path to a goal. Here are some examples of activities for moms, dads and toddlers that could become your favorites:
- flying a kite,
- throwing, kicking a ball to each other,
- jumping on puddles (in galoshes),
- "Painting" fences, pavements with water,
- climbing trees and other suitable objects,
- decorating trees and shrubs,
- the game "the ground is burning" (when this slogan is given, no foot can touch the ground,
- drawing patterns: with a stick on the sand, a pebble or a stick on the ground,
- throwing and catching a ball, going to the park, forest,
- viewing plants and small animals through a magnifying glass,
- peekaboo,
- playing with an umbrella: "catching the wind" - running while holding an umbrella behind you, "pushing the wind away" - in front of you,
- walking on walls and curbs,
- balancing (for example, on a board placed on a round log - protect the child),
- playing with colors (when the name of the color is mentioned, you have to find the item in the specified color as soon as possible),
- releasing bubbles (recipe: 1 liter of water, 2 or 3 tablespoons of washing-up liquid, a teaspoon of glycerin, available in every drugstore),
- "warm-cold" play (hide something, e.g. a mascot and ask the child to find it. Call out "cold, cold" when it is far from the hidden object, and "warm, hot, scalding!" when it comes close to it .),
- the cone race - the one who first brings the pine cone on his head to the finish line - wins. The cones may not be held with hands or otherwise supported. If any of the players gets a pine cone from the head during the race, they go back to the very beginning and start the race all over again.
Once upon a time, the children were much more agile. The problem of being overweight was not that common. The biggest penalty for them was a "barrier to the yard", now forbidding them to go to the pitch or playground will not even make a big impression on the child.
It is worth starting desensitization to movement today! Let's make sure that the little ones are fit and, above all, healthy. Otherwise, we ourselves will contribute to the emergence of a new generation: allergic to the movement of the weak.
Emilia Domitrz
methodologist of the Orange Ciuchcia Kindergarten,
graduate of the University of Warmia and Mazury,
for many years a teacher in the Orange Ciuchcia Kindergartens.
