🌀Structured or unstructured play
Playing tag, jumping rope, throwing and catching a ball, and anything that involves moving their bodies (and having fun doing it) is on the table here.
⠀
🌀Hanging from the upper body
Yep, using monkey bars or even swinging from a tree limb are all part and parcel of building strength and coordination.
⠀
🌀Hanging from the lower body
The same applies to doing those upper-body things upside-down! Dangling with the knees draped over a (sturdy) tree branch or playground bars, however precarious it looks, is good for building coordination and balance.
⠀
🌀Swinging through space
Think traveling rings or anything that lets a kid perform a swinging motion, like going hand-over-hand from one end of the monkey bars to the other.
⠀
🌀Crawling and running
Don’t forget about locomotion. Everything from crawling through playground tunnels (or crawling on the floor to fetch that cat toy that went under the couch) to running around the backyard is excellent for your kiddo's coordination and fitness.
⠀
🌀Falling down
Believe it or not, falling down (and getting back up again) contributes to building strength and coordination. It does wonders for the development of proprioception, our innate awareness of where our bodies are in space.
Proprioceptive input comes in through your muscles and joints, where the brain then takes this information and processes how your body needs to move in order to complete a task. The more often a movement (or series of movements) is repeated, the better sense of proprioception the brain develops, and thus, coordination is improved.
⠀
- Parents.com