Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Between my two kids, Vai has always been the one who’s more comfortable with his large motor skills.

He likes to tumble, jump and climb.

Since he was a baby.

We notice from early in the beginning how he’s quite a natural when it comes to such physical activities, and so we let him explore it further as we go through our day to day activities (with reasonable care and safety measures kept in mind, of course).

He started climbing onto our furniture when he’s about 9 months old.

He’d jump off from our bed to another spring mattress placed next to it once in a while.

Together with his sister, they’d wobble while trying to walk on the ‘concrete beam’ on their way to school or the market.

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Anyway. Today I’d like to share with you a list of suggested activities (for those between the age of one to six) that can further encourage the development of little ones’ large (gross) motor skills (adapted from an article by the University of Missouri)

Here they are:

One- to 3-year-olds

– Provide pull toys that make noise. Encourage your child to walk forward and backward while pulling the toy
– Help your child walk up and down stairs
– Help your child jump off the first or second step
– Help your child jump over a small object such as a book
– Provide opportunity for your child to climb up and through things. If there is a playground with appropriate equipment nearby, it would be the perfect place
– Provide both large and small balls for throwing and kicking

[They’re both obviously inspired by Vai’s session at The Little Gym!]

Four- to 6-year-olds

– Have your child walk along a line drawn on the floor — a good way to learn balance
– Provide a mat for tumbling play such as rolls and somersaults
– Play catch with your child — this provides throwing and running practice. Start by using a large ball. Once your child can throw and catch it, try it with a smaller ball then another ball a size smaller and so on
– Tossing balls or bean bags into a container will develop your child’s aim. As skill improves, use a smaller container or increase the distance to it

And oh one more thing, I truly believe that our reaction towards our kids’ activities does have a huge impact on them too. Click HERE to read about what happened to Vai when he tried to climb a tall umpire chair last year.

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[Listening to teacher Amy from The Little Gym]

Anyway.

Last week Vai’s friend, Caden (the one in green top), invited him to his weekly gym session at The Little Gym at Forum Shopping Centre *Thanks again, Caden!*

It was Vai’s very first visit to such gyms and he was SO excited and enthusiastic throughout the session! Haha. You can totally tell! He was always jumping, tumbling and hopping!

I’ve uploaded the video on youtube.

Click HERE to watch the clip!