How Physical Play Can Aid In Child's Development

Child experts have proven count. For older toddlers, instruct them to try to throw them into. When all of the bean bags are in the basket, instruct your child to help you with sorting them into colors. Repeat the colors as you pull the bean bags out of the basket. Place them in color groups and then count out how many of each color you have. Your little one will love this game and will repeat it over and over again. You will be surprised at how speedily he begins to recognize the colors and gain the counting skills at the same time.

-Alphabet. If you have a swing set in your yard, or at the park, have your toddler get on the swing and every time you push them recite a letter of the alphabet. Forward is A, back is B, etc.

-Colors A good old fashioned Twister mat is a great tool for teaching colors. Young children may not be able to do the actual game of Twister, but you can have them hop from colored circle to colored circle and they will love it.

-Alphabet Mats: Alphabet foam mats that you can play with are very tactile and a hit with kids.

-Newspaper search: Hold up a flashcard and see how many times you can find that letter in the newspaper.

-Sing the Alphabet Song. We all know that by putting something to music, attaching it to a tune makes it nearly unforgettable. Sing the song in order to begin with and encourage your child to join in with you. Even if they get the song wrong, cheer them on. This will boost their confidence and will encourage them to continue.

As you can see, there are lots of approaches to embody physical activity with academic learning. By teaching your children to be physically active you are enhancing the importance of physical activity in their everyday activities. Get creative. You know the activities that ignite your child's interests the most so incorporate them with academics and you will find you do not use up much time with passive activities. Your child burns energy which means he sleeps better at night and gains the motor skills along with his academic skills.

Lisa Kotz is a mother of three living in Seattle. Get in touch with more useful information about