Tag Archives: #balancing

Muddy movers for everyone.

September 5, 2023 Mrs MacRae Leave a comment

Today we have had lots of fun exploring our balancing skills.

To do this we set up our muddy movers obstacle course using the loose parts in the garden.

Today we started with lying the planks of wood on the floor to allow our younger children time to practice and develop their confidence in walking along the plank without falling off.

After a few times around the course we made great progress and became more confident in ourselves.

As more of our older children joined the obstacle course we needed to make it a bit more challenging. The children helped choose a different layout to help further develop their balancing skills. We found a plank that was flat on one side and round on the top, which made it a bit tricky to walk along. We had to stretch our arms out wide to help us gain our balance. It was very tricky but with lots of practice and a little help from our friends we did it!

To challenge our balance skills even further, we added two planks of wood onto the tyres. This supported the planks but gave it a bit of movement and made it bouncy.

“Its a bit wobbly”

The obstacle course is a great way to challenge gross motor skills and to demonstrate how to use the equipment safely, share space and take turns.

Article 29 – Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

Article 31 – you have the right to play and rest.

Outdoor Learning

Different ways to move our bodies 🤸🏻 🏃‍♂️

April 3, 2023 Miss Mitchell Leave a comment

Today in the garden we had lots of fun moving our bodies in different ways and developing our gross motor skills! Gross motor skills are the skills which children develop using their whole body movements.

By increasing movements of their whole bodies, children become more flexible, confident and agile.

The children discovered a different way to cross the beam and move in and out the tyres… on their knees!!

R ” I can jump in and out the tyres”

M, R and P all practiced their balancing skills and demonstrated confidence when crossing the balancing beam on the obstacle course.. well done!!

Balancing helps children to understand concepts such as gravity and helps children to develop better concentration skills.

M demonstrated good use of her gross motor skills by balancing on the side of the tyres whilst crossing them. ”If I hold out my arms it helps me to balance”.

G showed confidence, strength and determination to climb up the climbing wall in the garden. She was able to use her hands to help her balance at the top whilst climbing onto the bars at the top with her knees. Well done G! Climbing plays a key role in early childhood gross motor skill development.

What ways can you develop your gross motor skills at home or out in the community? Share your pictures with us!

Article 6 : I have the right to live and grow. Article 31: I have a right to relax and play

Outdoor Learning

Outdoors fun!

March 9, 2023 Ms Partridge Leave a comment

This week in the garden, we have been thinking of ways to develop our physical area. We have been working as a team to come up with some suggestions to make it more challenging and interesting.

While doing this, we realised we could add some more things into our obstacle course to focus more on our balancing skills. We talked about what balancing is…

“You freeze, That helps you stay still”

“Put your arms out. That helps you not fall on your face.”

“I can balance like a statue, look!”

“I’m like a flamingo”

This sparked some conversation about being “statues” and how they don’t move because they can “balance”. Think about statues, can they move? Can the wind move a statue?

As the children were becoming more confident with their balancing skills, we explored more tricky ways to practice.

The children found many uses for the tyres in the garden, and ways we could incorporate them into our play to challenge ourselves physically using them.

“Look how super fast I can go”

“I can balance if I lift my feet up!”