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The following are several different activities that you could do at home, both inside and outside, for your 4-5 year old kiddo.

 

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Inside Activities:

« Walking backwards – practice walking backwards between rooms, or make it into a game such as doing a puzzle or between turns of a board game. This helps improve balance and coordination.

« Jumping jacks – jumping jacks involve strength and coordination, which means this can be a hard task to learn. Sometimes having the kiddo do them in front of a mirror, or doing them with you while facing you helps. You can also break down the activity by doing arms only, then legs only, then putting them together at a slower pace.

« Sit ups – start by having them lay on the floor with knees bent, start with arms in front of them, reaching up towards their knees or giving you high-fives. As this gets easier, have them cross their arms over their chest. Make sure that they are keeping their body straight rather than rotating.

« Push-ups – you can start with push-ups with the kiddo on their knees rather than their feet, until it gets easier. This can be done during TV commercials, between turns on a game, etc.

« Skipping and Galloping – this can be done inside if there is enough room, or outside. You can have the kiddo practice this while going from room to room, or playing a game. If skipping is too hard, break down the task by having them practice slowly with a “step-hop, step-hop”.

Outside Activities:

« Bike riding – at the age of 4, a kiddo should start to be able to ride a 2-wheeled bike with training wheels. Practicing this task allows the kiddo to build strength, endurance, coordination, and balance. Start in a straight line until they get the hang of it, then add in turns. Around age 5, the kiddo should transition to riding a bike without training wheels.

« Riding a scooter – if available, have the kiddo practice a 3-wheeled scooter whether it be in the driveway, neighborhood, or park. Once they get confident with being able to ride a scooter without falling off, work on coasting or gliding by having them do a big push and then try to keep their foot off of the ground for as long as they can. Eventually, they should be able to progress to a 2-wheeled scooter.

«  Ball skills – practicing catching, throwing, and kicking helps build strength, coordination, and balance. At this age, work on throwing overhand and underhand while hitting a target from 12 feet away, catching a small ball with hands only from at least 5 feet away, bouncing and catching a ball, kicking a ball 12 feet in the air (ex: kickball), and drop kicking a ball with direction (towards a target).

« Swing – at the age of 4 ½ years old, kiddos should be able to swing by pumping their own legs. To help kiddos learn to pump their legs, stand in front of them with your hands held out as a target, telling your kiddo to “kick my hands with both feet at the same time”. Follow that by asking them to bend their legs backward. This will help improve their coordination.

« Jump rope – jumping rope is a great activity that can be fun while challenging their strength, timing, and coordination. A child first learns to jump rump over a rope that is turned by someone else. If you do not have a second person to turn the rope, try tying the other end on a nearby surface; make sure it is not too low or too high. As this gets easier, try transitioning to self-turned jumping rope, which requires more attention, timing, and coordination. A child should be able to do this around age 5.

If you are unsure of what your child should do and when, complete a free screening of your child at http://checklist.abcpedatrictherapy.com.

Visit our website https://www.abcpediatrictherapy.com for more information on child development.

The following are several different activities that you can do at home, both inside and outside, for your 2-3 year old kiddo.

Inside Activities:

« Practicing Stairs – walking upstairs reciprocally (one foot passing the other), progressing from use of one handrail to no handrail. To make it fun, make it into a game with building blocks or with putting a puzzle together.

« Standing on One Leg – improve their balance and hip strength by practicing standing on one leg for 3 seconds. First start without hands on their hips, and progress towards hands on hips as this makes it harder. To make it more interesting, try doing this while playing a game (stopping every 3 turns), coloring at a table while standing, or watching TV for example.

« Alligators – this is a simple hip strengthening exercise that will help improve their stability and strength for stairs, balance, and walking. You have them start by laying on their side, slowly raise the top leg, and slowly lower. To make it more fun, have a stuffed animal between their legs, and “chomp” down slowly as if they are an alligator.

« Bridges – this is a simple core and leg strengthening exercise. You have them start by laying on their back with knees bent, lift their bottom up off of the ground (forming a “bridge”), and slowly lower down. To make this more fun, have a small animal, car or favorite toy pass under each time as they “open” and “close” the bridge.

Outside Activities:

« Going down the slide – whether at home or at a park, the slide can be a fun activity for kiddos. At this age, a kiddo should be able to climb up the jungle gym and go down the slide by themselves while being able to sit upright without falling over.

« Soccer – practicing kicking a stationary ball towards a target, whether that be you (caregiver), another kiddo (friend/sibling), a soccer goal, or some other creative target from about three-to-six feet away.

« Playing catch – practicing catching a larger ball by bringing/trapping to their chest rather than with just their hands, and progress towards hands-only after they get consistent with trapping. This can be made into a game with basketball, catching stuffed animals, etc.

« Bike Riding – practicing bike riding can be done inside or outside depending on the space available. At this age, a child should be able to ride a small push bike; a bike without pedals where the kiddo uses their feet on the ground to move themselves. They should also be progressing towards the use of a tricycle around the age of 3. This activity is fun while helping to build strength and coordination.

If you have questions about what your child should be doing and when visit http://checklist.abcpediatrictherapy.com for a free screening.

Visit our website at https://www.abcpediatrictherapy.com for information on child development.