large Motor Skills

Kai is just over two months old now and he is really starting to discover his feet. So we have been playing lots of “kicking-Feet” games… Playing footsies with mommy! When I feel mommy’s foot – I go kick, kick, kick! Kick the Pan! The cookie sheet feels cool on my feet… And it makes [...]

Rock climbing with a three year old

June 11, 2011

When my little nephew Wy comes over, I learn to view things in and outside of my house with new eyes… Everyday, I drive past these rocks that are out in my front yard and don’t really give them much thought. My husband put them in the yard as a landscaping feature and I have [...]

Try the frog leap in preschool

May 18, 2011

In preschool, the frog leap is just a bit different than the old fashioned leap frog game where you jump over another person’s back… In this classroom, the teacher laminated some lili-pads on the floor for her little frogs to leap across. We have the two-footed leap… The split leap.. The full-body leap (sorry for a [...]

Developing large motor skills by playing on the line in preschool

May 4, 2011

Tape is such a wonderful thing to keep handy in preschool. In the latest conference I attended, the Ooey Jump In Jump OutGooey lady said you should keep a roll of painter’s tape on your wrist at all times! I am inclined to agree… Using some green painter’s tape, I made a large square on [...]

Preschool large motor fun with tape shapes

January 3, 2011

Wy and I had a busy new year’s night trying all kinds of fun art activities but it was also nice just to do something geared more towards using our large motor skills… I started us off by making some shapes with yellow painter’s tape on the floor. Painter’s tape is always better than masking [...]

Planning marvelous mitten activities for preschool

December 29, 2010

I am in the middle of preparing lesson plans for our winter session at school and one thing that I would love to include is an entire unit on nothing but mittens. I am not the only one who enjoys mittens. The mitten matching photo below was from a teacher on my Teach Preschool Facebook [...]

Take time to let twos tumble in preschool

November 6, 2010

Young children have a need to get their energy out. They will do it in all kinds of ways – some of which you, as a teacher, may like and some you may not like! Keeping in mind that children have a need to get out all that energy out – it is up to [...]

A simple bean bag game your preschoolers will love!

August 24, 2010

I happened by this classroom as the children were playing this simple little bean bag toss game. As each child walked up to the line, he or she would choose a bean bag out of the basket, then the teacher would ask the child to announce the color of the bag or name the letter [...]

Kick box painting with toddlers

July 23, 2010

My nephew Wy loves to kick balls, push cars, and color with markers but there is one thing that he really doesn’t seem to like…. Wy doesn’t like to paint. When Wy gets a little paint on his hands, he stops in his tracks and just stares like it is a disease. But unfortunately for [...]

Parachute play in preschool

May 23, 2010

Parachute play is a great way to promote teamwork and to get those large muscles moving. The children gather around the parachute and hold on to one of the parachute handles. There are more children then there are handles on the parachute so the children who are not holding a handle become the ball fetchers. [...]

Large motor skills in the preschool classroom

February 4, 2010

Getting large motor skills moving in the classroom is a very important aspect of developmental growth. Especially in the winter time, when children spend less time outdoors, you need to make sure you are investing time in planning activities that promote various types of large motor skills. What kind of large motor activities are there? [...]