Balance

Squeeze in some fun outside activities this weekend while we still have some warm weather!! As you know, outdoor activities are a great way for children to stay fit as well as release some excess energy. Here are some gross motor activities that promote strength, motor planning, balance, reaction time and coordination.

Finding a good jungle gym is often hard to find! Sharon Woods and Winton Woods are parks in Hamilton county with fantastic jungle gyms. Pine Hills Park, Heritage Park, Corwin Nixon Park and Fleckinstein Park have great jungle gyms in Mason. West Chester and Liberty Township have very fun jungle gyms as well as Fort Liberty Park and Keehner park.

When climbing up and down a jungle gym ladder, encourage your child to have their stomach against the ladder. This makes all the right muscles work. Going up is typically no problem but be careful when your child is learning to come down a ladder. Your child may need verbal cues to look where they are placing their feet. He/she may need manual help to find the step.

Have your child climb up a slide. This encourages strengthening in the hands and legs. It also requires them to be aware of their own safety. Encourage them to look to the top of the slide first to be sure no one is there.

Monkey bars not only develop upper body strength but also encourages motor planning and weightshift so they can move across the length of the bars.

Swinging on a strap swing is grat for grip strength, trunk and abdominal stengthening and even motor planning in order to propel the swing.