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Physical activities with BestStart Lytton
Most of us love to have fun being physically active outside, even as adults. We can run, jump, roll, throw, dance, balance, and skip; the list is endless.
Being physically active is vitally important for our holistic development and lays the foundations for skills needed at schools, such as literacy and numeracy. In the Takaro preschool class at BestStart Lytton, we're lucky enough to have Koka Marina visit us from Sport Tairawhiti once a fortnight.
This week she brought her parachute, and we had fun as we worked together to figure out how to jiggle the parachute so the ball didn't fall off, then how to coordinate the group, so the ball rolled from side to side without falling off. Then we had fun seeing how high we could make it bounce.
The next challenge was egg and spoon races. This took lots of concentration and focus on ensuring the 'egg' stayed on the spoon. It also required arm control and balance, as well as being aware of our surroundings so we didn't crash into others. Most of all, it was fun celebrating everyone's successes and efforts.
When we finished, we practised our jumping by being bunny rabbits and hopping from hula hoop to hula hoop all the way around the circle. The more fun we have, the better; we know we will be more likely to have a go at being physically active when it's fun, therefore, promoting essential brain and body development.