Gross Motor Tasks for School Holidays

Hop, Skip & Jump into the Holidays: Gross Motor fun for Families:

With the final school holidays of the year fast approaching, you might be wondering what are some fun activities to keep the kids active? The school holidays are a perfect time for families to get moving together to work on balance, coordination, and strength in ways that are enjoyable and developmentally beneficial. Below are some fun and simple, minimal equipment activities that can keep everyone energetic and engaged for the school holidays!

Backyard Obstacle Course:

You can set up an obstacle course in your backyard or local park using household items. Think chairs to crawl under, pillows to balance on, cones to weave around. Obstacle courses are great for enhancing coordination, agility, and strength and are easily adaptable for all skill levels.

Hopscotch with a twist:

Traditional hopscotch is great for developing single leg balance and strength, but you can make it even more beneficial by adding variations like jumping with both feet, and even crossing arms while hopping. These variations are important to helping develop strength, balance, and coordination.

Nature Scavenger Hunt:

Head out for a walk to your local park or even the botanic gardens with a list of items to find in nature (pinecone, smooth stone, feathers). Encourage your kids to squat, bend, and balance as they search. You can even incorporate tasks like ‘hop to the next tree’ or ‘balance on one foot while picking up a rock’. This activity will build your child’s endurance and provide sensory experiences which help with proprioception.

Dance Party:

Create a playlist or play their favourite songs on YouTube with a mix of slow and fast songs. Switch up the movements to include actions such as stomping, wiggling, spinning, hopping, jumping. This will help with your child’s balance, rhythm, timing, and proprioception!

Animal Relay Races:

Kids love pretending to be their favourite animal, so you can set up a relay where each leg of the race represents a different animal movement. They can bear crawl, bunny hop, frog jump, waddle, shuffle, or gallop! These movements will help develop core strength, balance, and coordination while the varied movements allow for a whole-body workout.

Balloon Volleyball:

Hang a string or a rope across a space in your yard or living room, blow up a balloon and play keepy uppy over the net. This is a fantastic way to work on hand-eye coordination, reaction time and upper body strength.

Pillow Path Balance beam:

Lay out pillows in a line as a makeshift balance beam and have your child walk across. The aim is to try and stay on the pillows without stepping onto the floor. As their balance improves, they can walk backwards or even sideways for an extra challenge.

Beach Bucket Relay:

For those of you heading to the beach these holidays, try a beach bucket relay. Set up two finish lines, and race to fill a bucket with sand or water by running back and forth with smaller containers. Running on sand is amazing for a child’s gross motor development, important for building leg strength, endurance, balance, and even arch development for the younger children.

Hula Hoop Challenges:

Bring out some hula hoops and try different challenges; spinning around the waist, passing it between friends, roll it, and spin it around your waist or foot. Hula hooping is a great way to strengthen core, arm, and leg muscles as well as coordination and endurance.

Swimming Games:

Make pool time extra active with races and games. Try swimming races or games such as ‘sharks and minnows’ where one person tries to tag others while swimming across the pool. You can also play pool “Simon Says” where the leader calls out the moves like “dolphin dive, swim backwards, or do a handstand”. Swimming is excellent for whole body strength, cardiovascular fitness, and coordination while the games keep your children engaged and confident in the water.

Jump Rope Games:

Jump rope is a great activity that challenges gross motor skills. Try single-rope jump, double (if you have two ropes), or even games where you count how many jumps each person can complete in a row. Jump rope is excellent for leg strength, coordination, rhythm, and cardiovascular endurance and can be done nearly anywhere!

School holidays are a great time for families to stay active together whilst also enjoying the break. Let these activities inspire movement, fun, and bonding with you and your family these school holidays!