February 2022 Parenta Magazine

5 ideas to get your
children moving in 2022
2022 is the year to get your children moving as movement literally grows their brains.
But before we start, here is a little reminder
of the guidelines published by the UK
Chief Medical Officer in September 2019
Under-5s
Infants (less than 1 year):
• Infants should be physically active
several times every day in a variety of
ways, including interactive floor-based
activity, e.g., crawling
• For infants not yet mobile, this includes
at least 30 minutes of tummy time
spread throughout the day while
awake (and other movements such as
reaching and grasping, pushing, and
pulling themselves independently, or
rolling over); more is better
NB: Tummy time may be unfamiliar to
babies at first, but can be increased
gradually, starting from a minute or two
at a time, as the baby becomes used to it.
Babies should not sleep on their tummies.
Toddlers (1-2 years):
• Toddlers should spend at least 180
minutes (3 hours) per day in a variety
of physical activities at any intensity,
including active and outdoor play,
spread throughout the day; more is
better
Pre-schoolers (3-4 years):
• Pre-schoolers should spend at least
180 minutes (3 hours) per day in a
variety of physical activities spread
throughout the day, including active
and outdoor play. More is better; the
180 minutes should include at least
60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous
intensity physical activity
UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical
Activity Guidelines Published 7
September 2019
Add a morning warm-up and end of the
day cool-down to your daily routine
Simple effective warm-up
A simple 5-minute warm-up will raise the
heart rate and get the blood flowing so you
are ready for the day ahead.
To make this fun, why not work together
creating the warm-up with the children.
This will give them ownership of the activity.
Your warm-up sequence should be very
simple, only consisting of jumps, runs
on the spot and claps. Once they have
mastered the sequence you can develop
it further and extend the warm-up time as
they progress. Don’t forget this is also good
for adults!
Cool-down and stretch
Put on some relaxing music and practice
your yoga poses together followed by a
well-deserved nap, as you close your eyes,
listening to the calming music.
Get outside and go on a bear hunt
Get outside and go on a bear hunt! Take
the children out in the garden or the park
for an hour (if not too cold) and see how
many bears, birds, squirrels, and rabbits
you can find. Why not join in with the RSPB’s
Big Schools Bird Watch?
For extra movement and exercise, get the
children to stomp like bears or even jump
in puddles like a baby bear. You can also fly
like birds and run with the squirrels hunting
for nuts.
On your return from the park or garden why
not make a den? A den is a perfect place to
have a teddy bear’s picnic and the children
can take turns pouring the drinks and
getting the snacks.
Get out the trusty parachute
There are so many different games you can
play with a parachute, and it always brings
so much excitement to the room.
To get you started here are a couple of
activities that will get the arms moving and
raise those heart rates.
When everyone is holding the parachute,
place items (soft teddys etc.) in the centre.
The game is to see how many you can
shake or throw off.
Put one ball (soft) in the centre of the
parachute. Call out the name of one of the
children - everyone must try to get the ball
to roll towards that child.
A little bit of imagination
makes a giant jellyfish
Create a jellyfish from a large hula hoop
covered in dangly ribbons, wool or string.
Whoever holds the hula hoop is the jellyfish.
Pop on some fun music, Disney’s “Under
the sea” would be perfect, and then stop
the music and freeze as the jellyfish swims
around between the children. If anyone
moves, they join the jellyfish (making him
bigger and bigger as he swims between
the children when the music stops again.
There are so many different sea animals to
meet under the sea to get them moving.
Create an obstacle course together
Get the children to help you create an
obstacle course indoors or outdoors using
any resources you have available.
If you create an indoor obstacle course,
you could make it even more exciting by
pretending to go through the Amazon.
You can take them to so many different
places with an obstacle course ranging
from the North Pole to the Amazon – it just
needs a little imagination. The added touch
of your amazing imagination and creativity
will make it more inviting and so much fun
for the children and means they will want
to join in again and again.
Don’t forget to look after yourself
For good physical and mental health, adults
should aim to be physically active every
day. Any activity is better than none, and
more is better still.
Each week, adults should accumulate
at least 150 minutes (2 1/2 hours) of
moderate-intensity activity (such as brisk
walking or cycling); or 75 minutes of
vigorous-intensity activity (such as running);
or even shorter durations of very vigorousintensity
activity (such as sprinting or stair
climbing); or a combination of moderate,
vigorous, and very vigorous-intensity
activity.
UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical
Activity Guidelines Published 7
September 2019
Gina Bale
Gina’s background was originally
ballet, but she has spent the last 27
years teaching movement and dance
in mainstream, early years and SEND
settings as well as dance schools.
Whilst teaching, Gina found the time to
create the ‘Hi-5’ dance programme to
run alongside the Australian Children’s
TV series and the Angelina Ballerina
Dance Academy for Hit Entertainment.
Her proudest achievement to date is her
baby Littlemagictrain. She created this
specifically to help children learn through
make-believe, music and movement.
One of the highlights has been seeing
Littlemagictrain delivered by Butlin’s
famous Redcoats with the gorgeous
‘Bonnie Bear’ on the Skyline stage.
Gina has qualifications of teaching
movement and dance from the Royal
Ballet School, Trinity College and Royal
Academy of Dance.
Use the code ‘PARENTA’ for a 20%
discount on Littlemagictrain downloads
from ‘Special Editions’, ‘Speech and
Language Activities’, ‘Games’ and
‘Certificates’.
References
UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity
Guidelines Published 7 September 2019
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.
uk/government/uploads/system/
uploads/attachment_data/file/832868/
uk-chief-medical-officers-physical-activityguidelines.pdf
28 February 2022 | parenta.com
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