Now that the weather is starting to warm up a bit and rainy days are few and far between, this is a great time to head to your neighborhood park and get some fresh air. Parks provide endless opportunities to work on gross motor skills and strengthening! Here are some of our favorites:
Monkey bars
- Hanging on monkey bars helps to build upper extremity and core strength
- Don’t be afraid to support your child’s legs a bit, especially if they are younger
- Swinging across allows for great vestibular input
- For older children: Have them practice tucking their knees up to their tummy for a nice core workout!
Play Structures
- Stairs of all heights are great for leg strengthening
- Hint: Ensure equal use of both legs! Encourage your child to alternate which leg leads going up and going down. The same can be done with ladders
- Jumping practice! Have your child practice their jumping skills by jumping off the bottom step
- Slides: Provide great vestibular input and also challenge core strength
Balance Activities
- Walk along curbs or benches to mimic balance beams and challenge your child’s balance skills
- Surface transitions: Parks have so many different types of surfaces to offer. From grass to concrete to wood chips and sand, and don’t forget about that bouncy rubberized surface
- Providing younger children and newer walkers opportunities to walk across a variety of surfaces helps to develop and progress their balance and stability.
- Transitioning between different surfaces is also important for balance development. While it may take a few extra moments at first to complete the transition, give your child plenty of opportunities to practice practice practice this skill!
Swings
- Back and forth: provides both vestibular input and encourages core activation
- Be creative! When it is safe and not too busy, try rocking your child sideways or providing circular motions to change up the input their body is getting and increase the core challenge!
