Introduce kids to living a healthy lifestyle by exercising. You can teach fitness activities for kids using cotton swabs through this fun fine motor skills activity.
When we talk about fine motor skills, we refer to the precise movements made with the body’s small muscles such as the tongue, mouth, fingers, feet, and hands. These movements are closely related to the eye. This is why hand-eye coordination is also discussed.
The stimulation of fine motor skills is of utmost importance for developing children’s skills in school. Their success depends on how children can draw, write, cut, color, tear, and thread with competence.
However, to speak of the benefits of fine motor skills only for school is to limit the importance of developing useful skills for children’s lives, both in the cognitive, physical, and emotional areas.
The stimulation of fine motor skills allows children to develop the skills needed to face day-to-day challenges appropriately, favoring learning and interaction with their peers.
That’s why the Montessori learning method raises practical life activities. Through them, children gain control of their movements and achieve independence, autonomy, and learn about the world that surrounds them.
Through these Montessori activities, children develop two relevant skills for forming their intelligence: memory and attention, fundamental for acquiring new knowledge.
In the Montessori learning method, practical life activities are the first activities to be carried out with children. Adequate development will allow them to carry out more activities progressively.
It is essential to highlight that, to perform these kids’ activities, materials must be real. These must be arranged in an orderly way so that the child can also organize his/her thinking and follow a tidy step-by-step activity.
THEME: FITNESS ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
HOW DO WE DO THIS ACTIVITY?
Topic: Fine motor skills
Age: 4-6-year-old children
Goal: Through this fitness motor skill activity for kids, children will develop orderly thinking, hands, and finger movements through the following patterns.
Difficulty level: Advanced. This fitness activity is designed for boys and girls to follow instructions autonomously and independently with adult surveillance.
Skills:
- Hand-eye coordination
- Accuracy in hand and fingers movements
- Following instructions
- Visual discrimination
- Focus
- Autonomy
- Independence
- Self-esteem
- Patience
- Following patterns
- Memory
- Problem-solving
MATERIALS
- A container with cotton swabs
- A tray
- A container with lids
- A container with different images and figures previously made
ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT
Step 1:
Take a card out of the container and place it on the tray.
Step 2:
Take a lid from the container and place it on the tray, as indicated in the image.
Step 3:
Take the cotton swabs from the container, and make the figure as indicated in the image; repeat the process with the other pictures in the box.
ACTIVITY RESULT
Patterns with lids and cotton swabs. Fun fitness activities for kids.
FREE PRINTABLE PRESCHOOL WORKSHEETS
After learning about fitness activities for kids, you can continue teaching kids about fitness through worksheets. Click the link below to download and print our fitness worksheets for preschoolers.
Download the Free Printable Worksheets
HOW DO WE DO THIS FITNESS ACTIVITY WITH CHILDREN OF OTHER AGES?
CHANGES FOR CHILDREN UNDER 4 YEARS OLD
This fitness activity for kids can be done with younger children. It is necessary to change the materials.
In this case, playdough will be used, which is much easier for children to shape and manipulate; maybe they can put together the cotton swabs properly.
It is also important to remember that the fewer images they have, the better it will be. The pattern can be made with simpler images such as geometric shapes.
CHANGES FOR CHILDREN OLDER THAN 6
This fitness activity can be developed with older children. The shapes can come in different colors to increase the difficulty level to allow children to replicate the image and consider their colors.
In this case, children must follow two patterns, which are the image and the color. Without a doubt, this activity will have a higher level of difficulty. It will be appropriate for older children’s development and abilities.
VIDEO DESCRIPTION – FITNESS ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
In this video, you will find the step by step of activity “FITNESS KIDS,” designed for 4- 6-year-old boys and girls, in which a pattern-following activity was carried out. Here, children must replicate the figure shown in the image with cotton swabs and soda caps.
This fitness activity will allow children to develop skills such as accuracy of hand and finger movements, hand-eye coordination, pattern following, following instructions, concentration, memory, patience, autonomy, independence, and problem-solving.
The materials needed for this motor skill activity are a container with cotton swabs, a tray, a container with lids, and a container with images of different figures previously made.
Do you like our fitness activities for kids? Make sure to check out our other fun craft activities for preschoolers.
- Kids will love this Pear with Pencil Shavings Fine Motor Skills Handcraft for Kids Montessori Worksheets (4-6 Year Olds)
- Here’s an awesome home activity, Happy Carrot Painting Crafts for Kids Montessori Worksheets (4-6 Year Olds)
- Check out this awesome Watermelon Folding Fan Cool Crafts with Paper for Kids Montessori Worksheets (4-6 Year Olds)
- Give kids fun activity to do. Check out this Healthy Pineapple Easy Paper Craft for Kids Montessori Worksheets (4-6 Year Olds)
Get super cute outfit for your little ones, check out this My Body is Strong and Healthy Kids T-shirt.
I’d like to know what you think of our easy fitness activities for kids. Please leave a comment below.
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