Transform the buzz of the Beijing Olympics into a backyard festival for your kids and their friends! Take a day or even a week to fully plan, prepare, and present the many elements that make this festival fantastic. From arts and crafts for invitations, programs, and crowns, to work with equipment, field prep, and sporty play, there’s plenty to engage everyone, young and older alike. Here’s how to host your very own Olympics!
The 2008 International Olympics begin today in Beijing, and much of the world will be enjoying the performances of the best athletes in the world. But the ancient origins of this modern event are probably not on your family’s radar. Sure, you know that there were olive wreaths involved, but how much can you share with your child about the Ancient Olympics? Bring the learning home along with the action and excitement by sharing the history of the Olympics with your child. Here’s a cheat sheet about the ancient tournament that’s sure to surprise!
Ah, the carefree barefoot days of summer: beach sand between your toes, green grass under your feet, and smooth floors and soft carpets underfoot at home. Are you and your children are missing out on the rich stew of sensory feeling that going without shoes can give you? If your child goes straight from shoes to sandals to cleats this summer, you may be missing a whole lot more.
Running out of steam on a hot summer’s day? Gather your kids or the whole neighborhood and make a backyard circus! Once you help set the basics in motion, kids’ imaginations will bubble with creative ideas and a story line will develop to support a really great show!
From their first gentle touching games like “This Little Piggy” to rambunctious wrestling, children love physical contact. But as any parent will tell you, sometimes the horseplay seems like it's over the line. Parents of boys, especially, know the scenario: it starts out with a choke hold, they laugh uproariously, throw each other to the ground, wrestle, and five minutes later someone is crying. Why do kids have to play so rough?
Does your child love to dance? Does he or she start to move just hearing music, and want to keep dancing on and on, even leaping down the sidewalks? Maybe its time for ballet! But is the discipline of classical training right for your child?
We see the young child at the playground, fully in motion. He is playing, having fun, socializing, exploring heights and falls and the space around, strengthening his young limbs and growing a brain with full capacities for learning. At the playground, in school, and at home, an intricate interplay of growth forces is at work. These forces of play, drawn by the child’s interest and enthusiasm, help prepare the pathways in the brain and body for success in learning and in life.
Developmental pediatrician Susan Johnson offers clear points for parents and educators to help understand true readiness for learning in school. Movement, of course, is key!
New medical research tells us another vital result of healthy movement for adolescent girls -- maximum bone development! Young women grow their lifelong bone mass during their teenage years as a result of dynamic movement activities, or not. Women have their maximum bone density at age 20 before osteoporosis inevitably begins, sooner for those without dynamic movement in their teens, later for those active others.
