5 Practical ideas for physically active play - BHF National Centre ...

Developmental activitiesWhat they encourageBalance and body awareness activitiesWhat they encouragePlaying with household itemsOutdoor playFor example:– a saucepan and a wooden spoon make a drum– rice in plastic bottles make good shakers.– Ride-ons – as balance improves, these are good for sitting on andpushing along.– Slide – place them half way up the slide or slide down with themon your lap.– Balance, strengthening leg muscles– Balance– Fine motor skillsSafety: Glue lids on bottles– Sit with them on a swing or, if they can sit unaided, swing alone.– Sensory development– Old magazines, newspapers, wrapping paper are great for ripping upand dropping into a box or container.– Let them explore and play with natural materials and containers –water, sand, soil.– Collect buckets or shoe boxes of small safe items (ie, that they can tipout and put back in again. Show them what to do).– Make post boxes they can post paper through (start with large slit anduse others with smaller slits as they progress).– Make up treasure baskets with objects of interesting shapes, colours andtextures, eg, food basket – rice cakes, raisins, banana, biscuit, bread,strawberry (vary according to weaning stage).– Fine motor skills – developing the pincergrip and releasing an object voluntarily– Explore different sights, textures, soundsand tastesSafety: Watch carefully that babies don’t put these materials in their mouth. These are just a few examples. For more ideas,see Section 1, pages 20–21. You can also makeup your own and adapt those we’ve provided.Tracking of objects– Blow bubbles for them to follow, catch, clap and reach for.– Tracking moving objects– Use push and pull toys and various balls to encourage eye movement.– Language development– Continue to share books and point out objects using clear languageto describe.Balance and body awareness activitiesWhat they encourageSinging and dancing games– Use finger play with puppets, sing songs and nursery rhymes whichencourage using different parts of the body, eg, ‘Heads, shoulders, kneesand toes,’ ‘If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands’ ‘Row, row, rowyour boat,’ ‘Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake,’ ‘Two little dickey birds.’– Clasps hands together on the midlineof the body– Examples of nursery rhymes and action rhymes can be found in Appendix ion pages 93–98 and can also be downloaded from the internet.– Play different types of music and dance with baby in arms or wriggle or rockon the floor together.30 Early movers – Helping under-5s live active & healthy livesSection 5 – Practical ideas for physically active play 31