Recommended Age: 2 and ½ years to 5 years, the level of complexity of this activity can be tailored to the age and abilities of the child
Level of Parent Involvement: High, this activity requires the adult to give instructions to the child to guide them through.
Prerequisites
- None
Materials
- 2 bean bags (one for you, one for the child)
Preparation
- None
Steps
- Invite the child to the activity, point out the bean bag, the child may bring the bean bag to the allocated space (if raining outdoors this exercise may be done indoors where there is a large space such as a hallway or lounge room)
- Let the child know that today they will be doing some movement activities using the bean bag
- Take your bean bag and place the bean bag on your right shoulder, ask the child to do the same, let the child know they need to copy what you do
- Lift your right leg off the ground and balance your beanbag on your right shoulder for as long as you can without letting the bean bag fall, child does the same
- Now swap the bean bag to your left shoulder and lift your left leg, again seeing how long both you and the child can balance without letting the bean bag fall (you may extend your arms out to the side to help balance)
- Now, show the child how to place the bean bag under their chin and hold it in place against their neck
- Let the child know they must follow you to a designated place without letting the bean bag fall, for example to the front door, or to the back fence if outside
- Now show the child how to balance the bean bag on their head, show the child how to walk backwards to a designated space then back without letting the bean bag fall
- Now take the bean bag and place the bean bag on your right foot, lift your foot off the ground and count with the child how long you can balance the bean bag before it falls
- Invite the child to do the same counting with them
- Continue modelling balancing and movement activities for the child to do with the bean bag
- At the end transition out of the movement game with a story or a song and guide the child to their next activity
Variations
- The child may use 2 bean bags
- For an older child, you may like to create an obstacle course either indoors or outdoors for the child to complete while balancing the bean bag without letting it fall
