Exercise is so important to the health and well-being of younger children and yet sadly many under-5’s don’t meet the recommended daily minimum of just an hour of physical activity every day. The Change4Life campaign suggests you need to get those little hearts beating faster than usual for at least 60 minutes every day.
Active children are healthier, happier children. It’s not just the chances of becoming overweight that are dramatically reduced by regular exercise – it will lessen the possibility of diabetes and heart disease and strengthen muscles, bones and flexibility. And even in younger children exercise produces a noticeable sense of well-being – letting off steam by running around in the fresh air can help release frustrations as well as boosting self-confidence.
Whether it’s due to long working hours or restrictions in their home environment, some parents simply don’t have the time or space to ensure their child meets even the minimum recommended levels of exercise – even walking to school can sometimes be difficult if parents are pressed for time. It often becomes an extra challenge for hard-pressed pre-school leaders and nursery school teachers to make sure the nation’s under-5’s aren’t under-exercised!
But coming up with new games and new ideas isn’t always easy – especially if you’re short of equipment and sports kit. Why not take a step back and re-visit some of the more traditional games we played when we were young? Remember they might be old-fashioned for you - but for toddlers they will be a new experience!
What’s more, many of the games and ideas use simple equipment but still manage to challenge children to improve their co-ordination, balance and core motor skills as well encouraging individual skills and team work. As an added bonus, it’s easy to build in other learning opportunities such as colour recognition and numeracy.
And with the focus on the Olympics coming up in 2012 it’s a good time to encourage children to emulate some of the athletic challenges that set world records.
Whilst children enjoy dressing up races, round the world races and other so-called ‘sports’ that have found their way on to many summer sports day agendas, many youngsters simply love running, jumping and throwing - testing themselves against their peers and demonstrating their prowess at gymnastics or other Olympic activities.
In 2010 many early years settings benefitted from an injection of free kit supplied by Haven’s Fun & Fitness Giveaway . The scheme, now in its third year, provides free sports equipment to help encourage under-5’s that it’s fun to be fit. The bags or boxes of equipment (depending on the number of children) include balls, hoops, cones, soft foam flyers, balls and scoopers and a parachute for team games.
This year settings that have already participated in the scheme will have the option of receiving a ‘Sports Day Kit’, with all that you need for sports day including team ribbons, stopwatches and certificates.
‘We wanted to give something back to communities and were keen to encourage a return to some of the more traditional activities,’ said a spokesperson for Fun & Fitness.
For more information about how to take part in the Fun & Fitness Giveaway and to benefit from the free equipment on offer click on www.havenfunfitness.com. Registration is easy and there’s no voucher collection or purchase required – once a pre-school or nursery has registered all parents have to do is click on the website and leave a simple message of support.
Try these games!
Balancing Act
Get the children to balance a bean bag on their heads as they walk around a room/outdoor space. Ask them to concentrate on keeping the beanbag glued to their heads and gradually shout for them to either walk ‘faster’, ‘slower’, ‘change directions’ or ‘hop’! !Once the beanbag has fallen from their heads they are of course out. Fun, competitive and helps develop concentration and core motor skills.
Piggy in the middle
A simple game of catch between two children with a third child – the ‘Piggy in the middle’ - trying to catch the beanbag. Or use a ribbon ball for younger children as it’s slower and easier for them to catch.
Balance in the jungle
Set up a hoop at least 5 metres away from the starting line. Divide the children up into ‘animal’ groups
‘Giraffes ’ must stand up tall and balance beanbags on their heads and make it all the way to the hoop without it falling off!
‘Gorillas’ have to balance the beanbag on their shoulder.
‘Snakes’ have to balance the beanbag the back of their hand moving in and out and side to side like a snake.
‘Lions’ have to crawl along on all fours like a lion with the bean bag on their back.
Throwing game
Place a hoop at least 2 metres away from the throwing line. Then place another two hoops behind the first so that there is a line of hoops, each one a little bit further away from the throwing line.
The one furthest from the throwing line is the ‘gold’ hoop where you can earn up to 10 points if a bean bag lands in it. The middle hoop is silver and awards 5 points and the one nearest to the line is bronze and awards 2 points.
The children then take it in turns to stand behind the line and throw beanbags towards the target. After five throws each you can all count up the scores and see who got the most points.
Pretend the beanbags are fish and you’re throwing them back into the pond!
Hoopscotch
Use hoops to make a simple ‘hoopscotch’ game. Lay the hoops on the floor alternating a pair of hoops with a single hoop. The children have to jump with both feet into the single hoop and then star jump into the pair of hoops with one foot in each hoop and arms outstretched.
Alternatively they can hop into the single hoop.
Chase games
Fun, noisy and great for keeping everyone active!
Sharks and swimmers
Place several hoops around the room or outdoor area – these are the ‘islands’. One (or more) of the children is the ‘shark’ and the rest are ‘swimmers’. Everyone runs around the hoops pretending to swim before the ‘sharks’ are released into the ‘water’ to catch them. The ‘sharks’ have to catch the ‘swimmers’ before they jump into the ‘islands’ where they are safe. Any ‘swimmers’ that are caught must then become ‘sharks’ until everyone has been caught.
The Queen’s got a headache!
An oldie but a goldie! The ‘queen’ sits with her back to the other children who have to creep up on her as quietly as possible. If she hears any sounds she turns round and chases the noisy child who has disturbed her headache!
What’s the time Mr Wolf!
This one helps with numbers too! Mr Wolf sits with his back to the other children who call out ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’ It could be three o clock, 2 o clock, or ten o clock....but when he calls out ‘dinner time’ or ‘breakfast time’ he turns round and chases the other children to make a tasty meal!
Ring a Rosie
What could be more traditional than a game of Ring a Rosie? The children walk round in a circle holding hands chanting the familiar rhyme
Ring a ring a rosie
A pocket full of posies
A tishoo, a tishoo
We all fall down!
And of course falling down at the appropriate moment.
Bring new life and extra fun by using a parachute which the children should all hold onto as they walk or skip around in a circle moving the parachute up and down.
At the very end ask them to lift the parachute as high as they can and then all fall down! Simple but fun.
Swap!
The children stand in a circle holding the parachute and flapping it up and down. The leader calls out the names of two children and the rest of the children shout “swap!”. As the other youngsters lift the parachute up into the air the chosen two run underneath it and swap places.
Good for reinforcing turn taking and sharing and keeping the children in suspense as they listen out for their own name!
Don’t forget simple ball and hoop games
There are so many variations on a game of catch – which can help with hand and eye co-ordination, team work and even numeracy and colours!
You can play one on one catch, throwing a ball around a circle, throwing a ball between two lines of children.
Throw the ball up in the air and catch it five times. Bounce the ball four times. Throw it against the wall or to a partner three times. Bounce it between your legs twice. Throw it up in the air and clap before you catch it once!
Stand the children in a coloured hoop and shout out different tasks for each colour: ‘Reds throw up in the air’ – ‘Blues’ throw to each other – ‘Greens’ bounce the ball.
Get half the children to hold the hoops upright whilst the others either kick or throw the balls through the hoops.
Use old fashioned ‘scoopers’ and plastic balls either individually or in pairs.
