Wonder Years: Easy ways to help little ones burn energy indoors

Young children need to move and explore in the world around them. They should be moving their large muscles for at least 30 minutes a day. As the cold weather sets in, this can be hard and children who do not have the opportunity to release some of their natural energy may begin to act out. With a little creativity and ordinary household objects you can transform some space in your home into a movement center.

Materials:

Colored paper cut into shapes

Pairs of socks rolled into balls

Masking tape

String

Silk scarves or fabric napkins

Small table cloth or large pillow case

Throw pillows

Music

Snowman Bean Bag Toss (see below)

Movement Center

1. Clear the floor of any potential trip hazards.

2. Cut paper into various shapes using different colors. You can place these on the floor and call out different colors or shapes for your child to hop, crawl, roll, dance or jump to.

3. Together with your child, you can sort and match pairs of socks. Children's socks are soft and when rolled into balls make excellent indoor balls or bean bags.

4. Masking tape (or string that is taped down) rolled out in a straight line on the floor makes a beam for balancing on or jumping over.

5. Silk scarves or napkins can be used to dance to fun music. As your child dances, give them prompts like "put your scarf in the air cover your hair" or "go way down low and cover your toes."

6. A large pillow case or small tablecloth can be used as a parachute. Children love this! You can put stuffed animals on top and bounce them into the air, or have your child raise the parachute and run under it. There are endless possibilities.

7. Throw pillows can be sat on, crawled over, built up and knocked down.

8. Music from different genres is fun too. Children love to dance. Try playing fast music and then slow music and encourage your child to move to the beat.

Snowman Bean Bag Toss

Materials:

Laundry basket

Kids sock pairs rolled into balls

Cardboard

White paper

1. On a large sheet of cardboard, draw a snowman. I used three nesting bowls to trace the circles.

2. Cut out your snowman and cut a hole in the bottom ball for bean bags.

3. Glue on white paper and cut around snowman.

4. Together with your child, decorate the snowman.

5. Tape the snowman to the front of laundry basket placed on its side.

6. Begin tossing and have fun!

Laura Elson is a Westerly-based preschool teacher and artist. She can be reached at exploreexpresscreate@yahoo.com">exploreexpresscreate@yahoo.com