Free Preschool Activity Ideas

Free Preschool Activity Ideas

If you work or live with preschool children, you're always on the lookout for ideas that will help you build in some daily physical activity. Just what type of activities are most beneficial to preschool children? What types of things should you be careful of? And where can you find some free preschool activities that really work. Below are some great activity generators and suggestions for how to keep it safe.

Warm up. Preschool children need to warm up before they exercise just like adults do. Make sure you move them around gently for several minutes before instructing them to run, jump or do any type of strenuous movement.

Balance. Good balance is important for almost all athletic activities. Keeping in mind the age of the preschool children, they should be able to balance on one foot from 3-10 seconds. Don't limit yourself to only standing balance exercises. Children love to get down on the ground and balance on hands and legs and then lift one or even two limbs in the air.

Sports Skills. Have all the children use plastic coffee can lids as Frisbees or wadded up balls of paper with mini-brooms as hockey sticks. You can create a number of sports items from common household supplies. Preschool children need practice with basic sports skills early in life to become competent and proficient enough to enjoy these activities later on. Make sure all children have their own prop so that they can get the most amount of hands-on time practicing.

Aerobic Exercise. Anything that gets preschool children to move quickly and use the large muscle groups in their legs will help provide much needed aerobic exercise. It's the aerobic exercise that helps burn fat and strengthen their heart and lungs. Relays, obstacle courses, races, dancing and gross motor locomotion around the room are all excellent preschool aerobic activities. Just make sure children take active rests (like walking or moving at a slower pace) between strenuous bursts of activities as they won't have the endurance an adult has.

Strengthening. Resistance exercise will help prevent childhood obesity by developing muscle mass which burns much more calories than an equal amount of fat. Children can do simple calisthenics like modified push ups, squats, lunges and crunches using their own body weight for resistance or have fun with props such as tug-of-war ropes, weighted bean bags, elastic bands, and water bottles.

Stretching. Preschool children's muscles need regular stretching which should be done after the exercise session, not before. Any stretches performed should be held still while counting from 5-10 instead of bouncing while stretching. Bouncing stretches or ballistic stretching can tear muscles and lead to a shortening of the muscles instead of elongation.

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