Dear Little and Very Little Ones! I hope everyone has got cured and now enjoys freedom, warmth, and sunshine! As a summer goodbye, I have brought you an exercise that you can do indoors or outdoors.
It improves focus, coordination, and thinking and it helps get to know and practice the direction and the limits of the body.
This game is called “little monkey”. Curious children (monkey and human) enjoy miming each other very much. So face each other and the game can start.
We can jump high with both legs, step from one side to the other slow and then fast, crawl on the ground on all fours forward and back, lift a ball high and throw it, then follow it with your eyes and find out where it falls down. We can lean side to side with our bodies like trees in the wind. The list of the movements is endless, you can go on.
If these mimings go well, we can switch to a bit more challenging game, that requires more focus.
Hold a plush toy or matchbox in your right hand so the orientation is easier.
Right hand (plush) touches the belly, left hand touches the face
Left hand on the head, right hand (plush) on the right shoulder
Right leg (plush on it) goes high in the air
Right hand (plush) on the right shoulder, left hand on the left ear
Left hand on the left ear, right hand (plush) on the belly
Right hand (plush) on the nose, left hand on the neck
And now let’s get tangled
Right leg (plush) on the left leg, left hand on the right hand
Left hand on the right ear (it’s hard), right hand on the right ear
And so on….
We can move our arms and legs to the right and left, forward and back, up and down. Tell and show what you do. For example: the teddy bear touches our nose, the other hand touches our ear, or the teddy bear sits on our shoulder, the other hand goes on our belly. Pay attention because we are facing each other, so the little one will see us like themselves in the mirror. What is left for us, is right for the child. So do not tell directions, only the place where the hand or leg goes.
I wish you very pleasant games to get smarter and well-coordinated, exciting and fun summer adventures, and happy times together!
This article is translated by Anita Nagy.
Click here for the Hungarian version.