Author: Jyoti Seth

10 Beneficial Gross Motor Activities for Preschoolers

Early childhood years are most important for a child’s growth and development (Source- UNESCO). Because these are the foundation years to teach the child the use of body movements to perform everyday functions. These gross motor activities for preschoolers are the focus of our early childhood education programs.

At this time, children mostly learn through fun activities and play. Hence, it is great to incorporate fun activities to work on these important developmental domains easily.  

TODAY, LET’S EXPLORE 10 MOST BENEFICIAL AND FUN-FILLED GROSS MOTOR ACTIVITIES THAT HELP IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GROSS MOTOR SKILLS AT THE PRESCHOOL STAGE:

Dancing-

Holistic development is one of the primary reasons why schooling is important? And physical development is an essential aspect of a well-rounded personality.

At the pre-school stage, children enjoy the element of music and love to dance along. Simple dancing is a great activity and helps immensely with the development of a child’s gross motor skills. Because freestyle dancing has several random body movements that help in strengthening the bones and muscles. This activity becomes even more enjoyable with mirroring techniques and happy tracks/jingles to engage young learners.  

Building blocks-

Gripping, placing and balancing blocks creatively while sitting and standing are also great for motor development at the preschool stage.

Frog jumping exercise –

The third in our line is the frog jumping activity. This one is both common and popular amongst the preschool age groups. Here, the child uses his/her hands to touch the ground and uses the feet to land on the floor. So, as a child jumps like a frog it helps in developing and strengthening the muscles.

Softball play-

Next on the list is the play with softballs. Preschoolers enjoy big movements like throwing and kicking balls. So these can be used effectively and interestingly by the adults.

Activities on uneven surfaces-

Another fun activity for this age group is running or walking over uneven surfaces. Here, adults can add their creative elements and make use of obstacles to add a level of difficulty. But remember, the object should always be delicate and safe for the little ones. So, objects like pillows, clothes and sacks can be good choices for this activity.   

Climbing to the top-

In this one, a child climbs up with big movements over a safe surface such as a stack of cushions or beanbags. It can be made more interesting by adding a reward at the top surface.

Line balancing-

Hopping and moving on the lines drawn by chalk/masking tape is another great way of helping with gross motor development. If the teacher/guardian draws these lines creatively, there is an added advantage because it helps the child to learn about geometrical shapes and zig-zag patterns during this fun activity.

Hopscotch –

At the preschool stage, once the child knows how to play hopscotch, he/she exhibits better body control. This activity includes gross motor skills like jumping, so it helps to learn the skill of body balancing. It is also a perfectly entertaining activity wherein a child hops different squares goes to a specific position and turns around to hop back to the original position. All in all, it is a great activity full of benefits for our young learners.

Crawling over the surface-

This creative activity can be planned with basic material like pillows, bed sheets, or rugs. Here, a child crawls through the given base and strengthens his large movement skills. Simple reinforcement techniques like appreciation, rewards, and treats can make this one super fun and rewarding for the child.

Penguin walk-

Lastly, we have the penguin activity for preschoolers. Here a child is made to swing happily from one side to the other with the feet turned out for a casual and funny walk. It adds to the child’s knowledge of body balancing as he/she does not place the feet straight on the floor. This activity also creates a conceptual understanding of the animals living in extremely cold conditions. So the waddle of a penguin on slippery ice is a fun yet beneficial activity for students.

Closing Lines-

The gross motor activities for preschoolers stage are all about exploring the surroundings and interacting with the environment. So, it is ideal to create ample opportunities for our young learners to move, use and exercise with all the parts of their bodies.

Now that we know so much about these activities, let us use these with our little stars and unlock new possibilities of movement, discovery, and play for them!

How to Deal with Examination Fear and Overcome it?

Exam fear has a negative effect on the mental well-being of a student. Through this anxiety and stress, a student’s capacity to perform also gets badly affected. In the present scenario, the growing issues like academic stress and exam fear are a cause of concern for the stakeholders and it is important to curb and overcome them before they become serious.

So, let us touch upon this sensitive topic and see how we can deal with exam fear

Let’s start by understanding, what is exam fear?

In simple words, exam fear is the phobia of examinations. Very often students experience a state of anxiety and stress regarding their exams.
This phobia is generally the uncontrolled exam fear and leads to medical conditions like depression etc.

Additionally, examination phobia can also lead to:

  • Frustration

  • Anxiety

  • Fear

  • Stress

  • Aches (stomach and head commonly)

  • Forgetfulness

  • Dizziness etc.

How can a student deal with it?

Through our conscious choices and practices, students can overcome examination phobia to a great extent.

Let’s see some quick tips that can reduce and counter examination phobia:

Being systematic-

Students of an online school or a traditional school should always follow a set schedule of studying. They should plan their day and take up portions of topics uniformly. Remember leaving topics for the last hour, adds to stress levels.

Periodic revisions-

To reduce your academic stress, avoid and overcome the exam fear, it is necessary to plan periodic revisions. Once a student is thorough with the subjects, it will automatically reduce the chances of developing phobias. Even during online schooling, the importance of revising should not be belittled.

Taking adequate rest and staying healthy-

A relaxed mind adds to one’s educational productivity. A good night sleep and rest during studies is quite important. These breaks and meals can play a vital role in reducing issues like examination phobia. Additionally, tips to reduce anxiety and stress management techniques can also help.

What parents can do–

As parents, we can help in reducing the chances of issues like examination phobia and academic stress. Simple changes in our attitude and selection of words can help our children greatly. For eg- if we choose not to compare our child with his siblings or others, it will not add to his academic stress. Also, our simple words of motivation and understanding of the individual differences can also make our child free from these phobias. These simple practices can free the child from the shackles of huge expectations, thereby not only reducing the chances of developing such exam fear, it even helps to overcome them.

Apart from all this, parents can also opt for other options for schooling, to suit their children specially.

Virtual schooling also reduces the academic stress of students

Yes! A simple yet effective solution. A digital medium can help your child to complete school education without causing academic stress. Because today, the best practices of online learning platforms are based on researched methodologies that help in reducing the stress levels in students. Through online education, it is now possible to channelize a student’s energy and make him focused on constructive learning.

Technology-based education creates a happy learning environment

With a balanced approach and the modern strategies of imparting education, online platforms integrate examinations into the education system without attaching excessive importance to it. This helps in purposeful learning without any exam phobia.

Online education can also help in reducing examination phobia by reducing peer pressure

Yes! The core elements of an online educational platform can be a credible solution for issues like examination phobia. As these platforms deliver personalized instructions, the peer pressure in a student’s academic journey gets reduced.  Unlike a traditional classroom, these platforms do not inculcate a sense of unnecessary competitiveness in students. In this way, they manage the academic stress level of students and succeed in reducing the examination phobia as well. Broadly, online schooling focuses on students as individual learners with respective skillsets and attaches equal importance to their personalities.

Conclusion,

Examination phobia can be because of numerous reasons. Peer pressure, academic stress, rat-race of admissions and high expectations from the family are some common reasons. However, if we know how to handle our time, work, and energy well, these issues can be avoided.

So, let’s aim at overcoming these fears forever and focus only on learning for excellence!