What You Need
- CD or tape of your child’s favorite music
How To Do It
- Try this active way to wake up your child in the morning. This is a fun way to greet them in the morning and start the day with some movement to help really wake everyone up!
- Put on some fun music and announce, “It’s time to get up and go!”
- Begin by hopping in place in time to the music.
- Then you can hop from the bedroom to the kitchen for breakfast or simply hop around in whatever room you are in. (Watch out for toys!)
- Hop up and down, hop forward and backward, hop all around. Have your child follow what you do. Allow your child to lead next time and you follow.
- Change the activity to skipping as the music continues. To skip, have your child take a step forward and a small hop with the same foot. Alternate feet using this pattern (left-foot step, hop; right-foot step, hop). Don’t worry about perfection – getting little ones to move around is a great start. The coordination comes in time. Skipping may take several weeks or even months to master. Be very patient so that your child won’t be discouraged.
Follow-Up Fun
- Once your child has mastered skipping and hopping to the music, add a small ball to toss back and forth.
- Trade in the balls for a hula-hoop. Take turns wiggling you hips back and forth as you do your best to keep the hula-hoop circling your hips.
