With the weather getting nicer every day, School-age 3 has been spending more and more time outside. Many activities have been played while the weather warms up. We started with bringing out Skip-It’s, and a few friends had contests to see how long they could skip the ball on a rope! They also helped each other learn how to use the Skip-It’s as some, like Eve and Harper, had never tried them before while others, like Claire, appeared like experts.
This was then followed up by a child-led obstacle course that was lots of fun! The course involved cones, rings, beanbags, and basketballs, and was fully planned and implemented by the children. It was a fun race to see who could have the fastest time and complete the course before their opponent and carried on for multiple days as the children recreated the obstacle course over and over again.
As the weather continued to warm, we had a wonderful day where we took ratchet straps from the shed and made a swing. Liam helped Educator Vanessa set up the straps and got to have a turn first. The others made a line and awaited their turn. Brielle asked if two friends could go on at a time and as long as they kept the swing balanced and worked together to move, they were granted this. The children encouraged each other and counted down from 15 when it was time to switch turns. Once everyone had a turn on the swing, they were asked if they wanted to swing more or add another strap to climb with- of course, they wanted to climb. Taking another strap out, we created a climbing apparatus to really get the gross motor and risky play going! Simi helped as Vanessa attached this strap, while Liam took the swing down. This time we invited the children in groups up to 4 to participate, ensuring everyone who wanted a turn got one.
Gross motor is a huge part of our curriculum in School-age 3 as many of our children need the stimulating output. Running, jumping, and climbing fulfill these needs. The feeling of the ground beneath their legs when running helps the children feel grounded. Jumping the Skip-It’s helped improve their coordination as they needed to swing the skip with one leg and jump over with the other. A few friends found this easy, counting well up to thirty while skipping! Others it was a challenge, but a challenge they were happy to try. Climbing fills the need for taking risks while using their upper and lower body strength in tandem. Risky gross motor functions challenge the children to keep themselves from harm in a reasonably safe environment where we can catch them if they fall, while they can also feel accomplishment from being able to climb all by themselves. School-age 3 has been known to love outdoors time so much that they do not want to come in sometimes, and we love to lean into that craving for their gross motor learning when we can!
