| It is so exciting when your baby takes her first | | | | direction in space and initiating movement with |
| step. When she lets go of your hands and teeters | | | | different body parts all which will be explored again |
| away. But now that your baby is a toddler | | | | when he learns to spin, rotate and twist while |
| preschooler how can you help him discover more | | | | standing and jumping. |
| about his body, facilitate body awareness, strengthen | | | | Why move with your child. Well, first it is great |
| gross motor skills and teach him to understand the | | | | bonding time. You are experiencing an activity and |
| space around him? | | | | communicating non-verbally. You get to experience |
| The answer is simpler then you think. Move with | | | | what they just discovered and believe it or not |
| your child. Your child has mastered different skills | | | | rolling, creeping and crawling is good for you too! |
| like rolling, crawling and walking but be sure to | | | | We never stop relearning skills and it is great for |
| “review these skills.” It might seem silly at | | | | your core muscles! |
| first to get on the floor with your child and roll with | | | | Here are some fun movement ideas to explore |
| her. You might think that she already knows how | | | | with your preschooler: |
| to do this but movement is a layered experience, | | | | - Rolling |
| which means we relearn the same concepts over | | | | - Crawling |
| and over and each time we relearn it we get better | | | | - Jumping |
| at it. Crawling is a contralateral movement and so is | | | | - Hopping |
| walking. (Contralateral movement is when the right | | | | - Standing on one foot |
| arm and left leg are moving simultaneously and vice | | | | - Move close and far away from each other |
| versa.) So mastering crawling will help a child master | | | | - Moving together while connecting a body part |
| walking, running, leaping, etc. Another example is | | | | (hand, elbow, foot) |
| when your child as a baby rocked on his hands and | | | | - Standing as still as a statue (this uses all the |
| knees before crawling. Your child was practicing | | | | muscles in the body and teaches children that there |
| pushing from his feet, the same concept that he will | | | | body works very hard to be still.) |
| explore when he learns to jump. | | | | Enjoy moving with your child, discovering |
| So when you get on the floor and roll with your child | | | | movement in a whole new light and how fun it can |
| you are helping him with his layered movement | | | | be as well! |
| experience exploring skills like spiraling, changing | | | | |