Category Archives: fit kid

Toddler Tug-o-War

Leave a reply

Toddler Tug-o-war
Here’s an easy and fun activity that will only require two bibs! Loop the two bibs together and have your tot hold one bib and you hold the other. Then have your tot pull on the bibs. My daughter didn’t really get the concept of pulling at first, but it will come quickly with this game.
A great suggestion is to be sure that your tot is sitting down so that when the loops break he doesn’t lose balance and fall down. Laugh and clap when the bibs pull apart and talk about which one stayed together and which one opened up. Talk about the colors of the bibs, and any words or pictures on them. For the older toddlers, have them hold the bib in their right hand and then the left hand while pulling each time. Then try to see if he can pull the bibs apart by himself. My daughter thought this game was hilarious and we played it over and over and over…. (you know how it goes!)

Supplies Needed-
– 2 bibs

This activity was taken from TODDLERTODDLER.com- check out this great site!

Toddler Twister

2 Replies

Toddler Twister!-
This is a fun game for the whole family to play! One way to play is to print out a sheet of shapes and then cut them out, but you can use large foam shapes or shapes drawn on an old white sheet. The sheet idea would be easy to pack around anywhere- go play in the backyard! Put the shapes (or shape sheet) on the floor and then have your toddler stand or sit on each shape. Once she has mastered that, then have her put one foot/hand on one shape and the other foot/hand on another shape. Maybe she can touch her nose to a shape! If your shapes are multi-colored, you can discuss each of the colors as your tot hops on and off the shapes.

Supplies Needed-
– shapes (can be made out of paper, or if you have foam or material shapes they would work as well)
– masking tape
– floor space

taken from TODDLERTODDLER.com- great resource for tot games!

Happy Playing!

Food Group Fun

4 Replies

There are some simple, easy resources to teach your little one about the 5 food groups! I struggled at first to come up with some ideas- but I think I have come up with a well-rounded list:

  1. see ’em. Why not see where the fruits and vegetables come from by visiting a garden? It will make a lot more sense when trying to explain that vegetables grow in the ground and fruit grows in the trees if they have seen it with their own two eyes.
  2. serve ’em. Make sure, if possible, that you have a variety of foods (in the food group you are learning about) available at home for your little one to try. Eating food can be just the ticket to make the food groups fun!
  3. read about ’em. There are tons of great books out there that will teach your kiddos about the food groups and proper nutrition.
  4. sing ’em. There are a couple sites with some food group songs: Food Guide Pyramid and CanTeach
  5. wear ’em. I am not talking about a food fight. How fun would it be to have 6 little kiddos wearing paper bag vests filled with a variety of foods from the food group (cut from grocery ads) that they glued themselves? Or have one kid be the veggies, one be the fruit,etc. Just an idea!
  6. sort ’em. Take out your plastic food and put them to use by doing a food sort. I used these cards and they worked great (see the do it yourself section down below to download). If you don’t have plastic foods, just print pics of the foods or download a second set of cards to match.

Here are the sorting cards for the food groups from this great site. They have some great downloads.

There are some food pyramid coloring sheets from the Produce for Better Health Foundation. There are some arts and crafts ideas using the food groups from Everything Preschool. Check out the nutrition page on our site’s wiki for more ideas!


Happy Teaching!

Swinging

1 Reply

Swinging
 What kid doesn’t like to swing? If your little one seems ready, you can start showing them how they move their legs to pump in the swings. It may take awhile to pick up, but if they are trying they are making the swing more of an exercise than a ride!

Supplies Needed--swing

My daughter could sit on a swing for hours. Literally. I am excited to make this a more active game for her and I know she’ll have fun! And thats what its all about! 🙂

Hula Hoop

1 Reply

Hula Hoop
 Grab a hula hoop and you and your tot can have lots of fun! There are many different games you can play with one of these simple toys. You can have a hula hoop contest to see who can keep it up the longest (without holding it of course), you can roll them, you can use them as giant sorting rings to sort (if you have 5 hoops sort plastic food by the food groups OR if you have 2 sort by opposites like things you use at night/day and hot/cold- possibilities are endless!) You can also toss the hoops and see who can throw them the farthest!

Supplies Needed-– at least one hula hoop!

Toddler Twister

2 Replies

Activity copied directly from TODDLERTODDLER.COM
Toddler Twister
“This is a fun game for the whole family to play! Print out the sheet of shapes and then cut them out. Tape them to the floor in a small group and then have your toddler stand or sit on each shape. Once she has mastered that, then have her put one foot/hand on one shape and the other foot/hand on another shape. Maybe she can touch her nose to a shape! She might have to think about what to do next with her body? Or she might turn in circles to try. You’ll enjoy watching her and she’ll have fun with all the shapes.

Supplies Needed- – Printer to print out the shapes—-
( or use construction paper)
– masking tape
– floor space=”http:>

Tips/Suggestions-
– Ask your toddler to jump on each shape, then jump off to review “on” and “off”

– Talk about the colors of the shapes while trying to put a hand/foot on each one.

-Show by example…see how twisted up you can get and your toddler will get a chuckle seeing you try and then falling down. “

I am really excited to try this out with my daughter! Our good camera is in the shop getting repaired (thank heavens we purchased the extended warranty) so if I take pics I will update this post.

Happy Teaching and have lots of fun!

Dance

Leave a reply

Dance
 All you need is a good beat and dancing seems to come naturally! This is a good time for our little ones to show some freedom of expression with their movements and to just have a good time. We dance at least once every day-not only is it good exercise, but my daughter really enjoys moving (and I am happy to see her release some of that energy!)

Supplies Needed-– music (CD, piano, guitar, other instruments, singing, musical toys, etc)
ribbon sticks add a little pizazz to the dance but are not necessary for fun!

Movement Cards

21 Replies


Movement Cards Print a set of cards and you have an instant variety of fun activities! There are some sets to download (see the do it yourself section at the end of this post). You can play these cards in a variety of ways- from just drawing one card at a time and doing the activity, to having a race to see how many cards you can complete in a given amount of time, to setting the cards in a circle and doing the activities as you walk around…. there are many more!

Supplies Needed-– a set of cards (see below to download)

Downloads: There are 3 different sets of movement cards. One is a very simple set I made for my daughter when she was about 1. The second set came about when I read this great blog post on the ABC’s of movement- we worked together and came up with a set of movement cards. Anyway you choose to go, these movement cards will keep your tots busy!
Set One
Set Two

Happy Teaching!

Yoga for Kids

6 Replies

Yoga
 Don’t be intimidated by the word- your toddler CAN do yoga! And more than likely he/she will enjoy doing the different poses! Just pick two or three at first- not to be too overwhelming. Go through each of the steps of the poses- modeling it for your tot- and be sure to not get frustrated if your tot has their own yoga technique. Remember that the goal of yoga is to relax and energize your mind and body- not leave you stressed out! I recommend purchasing a yoga for kids program to help simplify the pose steps and make this a FUN activity as well- I use the Yoga Pretzel cards and LOVE them!! My wiggly daughter loves the rock pose- who knew she would want to be so still!

Supplies Needed-
 – yoga mat or towel to perform the different poses on
– a knowledge of yoga or a learning tool (book, video, activity cards)

Happy Teaching!

Play Catch

Leave a reply

Play Catch!
 This is a simple game that requires nothing more than a willing toddler and a soft ball! Your tot might not be able to catch the ball mid-air, but will have tons of fun grabbing the ball and throwing it back to you! This game is also fun with balloons (my daughter preferred that method to balls- they came down slower so she had time to grab the balloon before it fell to the ground)

Supplies Needed-
 – soft ball or balloon

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...