Get Your Kids Moving!
December 19, 2012
Q: Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way...All the way to where?
A: All the way to Fitness, Learning, and Fun!
- Fitness: Jingle Bells are a great rhythm instrument to get kids moving! It's lots of fun to march, jump, walk, run, and wiggle with your bells on!
- Learning: Jingle Bells are also a great learning tool for:
body awareness ("Let's tap the bells on our knees," etc.)
spatial awareness ("Let's make small, large circles with our bells," etc.)
understanding of concepts ("Let's shake our bells...high and low or soft and loud,” etc.)
- Fun: Another fun activity is to add your bells when doing the Freeze Dance, (my favorite version is found on the CD Kids in Motion by Greg Scelsa) it makes it noisier, therefore, more fun. :)
You can find these fun ideas and much more by checking out the book, 101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children by Abigail Flesch Connors.
Happy Jingling!
Barbara H.
Blue Springs South Branch
Comments
READING and EARLY LITERACY
Let's not forget the current research that supports the link between movement and literacy.
Large muscle movement, and movements that cross the body like touching the left knee with the right hand, or catching a ball where both hands have to work together (across the body) to catch the ball have direct links to early literacy. Reading is not all about sitting quietly.
Troy Thomas
teacher, and Children's Librarian
Red Bridge Branch
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