When I am looking for new things to do at home with my kids, I always look for ones that involve physical activity, some learning, and some FUN! Since getting these colored fitness spots, I've found tons of ways to use them for kids fitness activities with ENDLESS variations for learning things like counting, colors, patterns, animal moves and MORE! I've got 5 of our favorites here on the blog for you today!
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:DID YOU KNOW?
Physical activity for toddlers/preschoolers helps with:
You had me at attitude and sleep...but it truly is AMAZING the results that have been found when kids have opportunities to move WHILE they are learning.
Exercise makes your BRAIN WORK BETTER.
It's as simple as that.
It's actually recommended (NASPE) that preschool-aged kids get 120 minutes of physical activity each day!! That's 2 HOURS! I know that even in my active house, that doesn't always happen!
Physical activity for toddlers/preschoolers helps with:
- Sleep
- Attitude
- Strong muscles and bones
- Healthy heart and lungs
- Learning retention
- Future academic success
You had me at attitude and sleep...but it truly is AMAZING the results that have been found when kids have opportunities to move WHILE they are learning.
Exercise makes your BRAIN WORK BETTER.
It's as simple as that.
It's actually recommended (NASPE) that preschool-aged kids get 120 minutes of physical activity each day!! That's 2 HOURS! I know that even in my active house, that doesn't always happen!
I like to keep things simple here - and I love tools that can be used in an endless amount of ways. A little stack of these fitness spots (I like these poly spots - super durable, weatherproof, anti-skid) can make for a morning of fun - or a great addition to classroom activities for preschools, daycares, or other kids activities. Let your imagination run wild!
If you're doing your activities outdoors, you could always substitute chalk circles for the spots, but they aren't quite as versatile since you can't move them around!
Design Your Own Hopscotch
We love designing our own hopscotch with these colorful fitness spots! My chalk versions always end up crooked and angled funny - and I love that kids can help with this too! You can set out the spots in a basic hopscotch formation (2 next to one another, then 1, then 2...etc) or get super creative! Place them further apart for bigger kids to do bigger hops or even incorporate different jumping patterns! To add an element of learning, you can have kids call out the color when they land on it. Work in patterns, rhythms, and MORE!
Musical Fitness Spots
With a large group, you can use these spots in place of chairs and play the traditional version of musical chairs (1 spot per child, minus 1). The kids will walk, run, skip around the circle until the music stops and then race to freeze on the remaining spots.
For a different version that also works with less kids (even just 1 kiddo!) try this: place all of the spots in a large circle and play some fun music. Have them walk, run, dance, skip, crawl around the circle as the music plays.
Option 1: When you pause the music, call out an exercise or yoga pose. The kids will pick a spot to stop on and do the exercise. A few ideas: stand on 1 foot, jump like a frog, pushup, make a table shape, squat, jumping jacks, downward dog, sit like a butterfly.
Option 2: When you pause the music, call out a color. The kids will run and freeze on that color until the music begins again.
For a different version that also works with less kids (even just 1 kiddo!) try this: place all of the spots in a large circle and play some fun music. Have them walk, run, dance, skip, crawl around the circle as the music plays.
Option 1: When you pause the music, call out an exercise or yoga pose. The kids will pick a spot to stop on and do the exercise. A few ideas: stand on 1 foot, jump like a frog, pushup, make a table shape, squat, jumping jacks, downward dog, sit like a butterfly.
Option 2: When you pause the music, call out a color. The kids will run and freeze on that color until the music begins again.
Color Moves
For this game (our personal favorite!), arrange all of the spots randomly in your play space. The more spread out they are, the more challenging this game can get. The kids will start on the spot of their choosing - you will then call out an action and a color.
Some ideas (they're endless, really):
"Hop like a rabbit to BLUE!"
"Tip toe to ORANGE!"
"Walk backwards to GREEN!"
"March to RED!"
"Skip to PURPLE!"
"Bear Walk to YELLOW!"
Get creative - you can even do all animal moves if you'd like! This game can go on FOREVER if you want it too!
Some ideas (they're endless, really):
"Hop like a rabbit to BLUE!"
"Tip toe to ORANGE!"
"Walk backwards to GREEN!"
"March to RED!"
"Skip to PURPLE!"
"Bear Walk to YELLOW!"
Get creative - you can even do all animal moves if you'd like! This game can go on FOREVER if you want it too!
Color Spot Yoga & Fitness Stations
Set up your own little fitness course (obstacles optional!) with these colored spots!
Use each spot as a station - assigning each one with it's own exercise or yoga pose.
If you're only using the spots - lay them out in a driveway or along the sidewalk and use chalk to write a move next to each spot. If you have yoga or fitness cards like these - you could tape them on top of the fitness spot. You could also just write the moves (or draw a picture!) on printer paper and tape it to them! I recently stumbled upon these awesome activity mats (garage sale finds ftw!) and they do all the work for you! My kids love creating their own circuits without needing the ability to read.
Have your children move from spot to spot, doing the assigned exercise or yoga pose. To add a counting/number recognition aspect you could have them roll a dice at each station to give them the number of repetitions to do.
BONUS: Add cones, tunnels, chairs to climb over or under, hula hoops or anything you can find to add obstacles in between fitness stations!
Use each spot as a station - assigning each one with it's own exercise or yoga pose.
If you're only using the spots - lay them out in a driveway or along the sidewalk and use chalk to write a move next to each spot. If you have yoga or fitness cards like these - you could tape them on top of the fitness spot. You could also just write the moves (or draw a picture!) on printer paper and tape it to them! I recently stumbled upon these awesome activity mats (garage sale finds ftw!) and they do all the work for you! My kids love creating their own circuits without needing the ability to read.
Have your children move from spot to spot, doing the assigned exercise or yoga pose. To add a counting/number recognition aspect you could have them roll a dice at each station to give them the number of repetitions to do.
BONUS: Add cones, tunnels, chairs to climb over or under, hula hoops or anything you can find to add obstacles in between fitness stations!
Free Play
For toddlers and preschoolers, free play is some of the most important time for their development. While learning to follow directions and getting cues from parents/teachers is all really good too, exploring their own movement and getting creative is where the brain growth really comes in! When we play with our fitness spots I usually pick a game or 2 to play, and then just turn on some music and let them take over. It's really fun to see what they end up doing, and how each kiddo is so different. My oldest (4) will usually try to copy a game we've played before, with her own little twist. My youngest (2) will usually steal them all away to make perfectly straight lines and patterns, or stack them up. You never know, you may get inspiration for your next organized fitness spot activity - those little brains have some great ideas!
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