This month in Preschool 2 at RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Brigid, we have been engaged in a variety of different gross motor activities. From indoors to outdoors and everything in between, we have a very active group! Some of the indoor activities we have done are exploring the tunnel, using the trampoline and doing some action songs. We have two different sized tunnels that we have used in our classroom. Using the tunnel and trampoline allowed the children to work on patience, turn taking and their gross motor skills. The children also enjoy some of the action songs we play in the classroom. Two songs in particular they have enjoyed are “The Goldfish Song” and “Sleeping Bunnies.” The children enjoy doing the actions such as swimming around the classroom, or hopping around like bunnies, or if they would like they can pick a different animal to be. This allows them to make decisions of their own, giving them some independence.
Outside, the children love running around playing games with their peers, biking or pulling friends in sleds. We observe the children playing games with their peers. One game they have really enjoyed lately is a game called “Freeze.” This game is pretty much freeze tag, one child chooses to be the “freezer” while others run around running from the freezer. Then another child “unfreezes” as they call it, who goes around freeing the frozen children. We have seen a lot of inclusion with not only children from our room, but also the other preschool room. We also see many children engaged on the bikes, whether they are on the single bike or “people” bike (3-seater bike). We see a lot of turn taking and support. For example, if a child is stuck with the bike another child will come over and help push the bike, so the child can continue on it.
We are so eager to continue to watch the children explore their gross motor skills. This can also encourage others that may not be as comfortable with big body play, to continue to test their strengths and abilities.
