5 Kids Balance Games – Child Development
5 Kids Balance Games - Child Development
Like most other stages of development, babies and children have to learn how to balance and coordinate their bodies. With the help of Rosemary Williams from Family Chiropractic Bundaberg we've put together a list of 5 Kids Balance Games to play with children to help improve their balance and coordination skills.
Gill Connell from Moving Smart NZ says that babies learn to balance through movement. When the body moves, the brain records that information and forms it's own understanding of what it feels like to be in and out of balance. For more from Gill, read her article on the Moving Smart Blog about Developing Balance and this one about our Seven Senses.
Balance involves:
- spatial awareness - knowing where we are within our environment
- our vestibular system - the canels between our ears responsible for forwards, backwards, up down, tilting, spinning, leaning, how fast or slow we move
- proprioception - vision and joint awareness
If children don't develop a good sense of balance they can develop poor:
- stamina
- pencil grip and control
- movement sequencing
- muscle tone
- speech and sensory processing deficits
5 Kids Balance Games
Individual Bending Games
Bending one leg changes our balance. Try each of these positions with a bent leg.
- Lying on the back
- stomach
- sitting
- hands and one foot on the ground
- one foot on the ground.
Switch the leg that is bent and do each position with the other leg bent
Partnered Bending Games
Once children are comfortable doing the individual balances on their own repeat them with a partner. Doing balances with another person changes the perspective of the activity considerably. It not only promotes balance but team work.
Musical Statues
Play some music. Have your child dance, skip or move to the music. When the music stops everyone must stand in their position like a statue. First one to move is out.
Line Walking
Walking along a line heel to toe can be quite tricky. Once this is mastered speed up the process or add in some hand actions. Masking tape, a long strip of ribbon a rope all make great lines to follow.
Marco Polo
Play Marco Polo. Have children slowly move backwards to the side and forward with their eyes closed to find their friends.
This blog has been written as one in a series of articles aimed at increasing the knowledge and skills of parents and early childhood educators within the Wide Bay Region and is part of the Moving Smart Community Project.
