Reflection - Physical, Fine Motor And Gross Motor Activities

Reflection – Physical, Fine Motor and Gross Motor Activities

Physical Activities

The activities were a big success. The children appeared to be attentive and eager to be a part of the fine motor as well as the gross motor skill. Every session was coherent, and the children were receptive especially during the activities that were involved. For example, during “Simon Says,” their laughter dominated the room, and they were keen to obey the directions given. The children were eager during the activities as evidenced by their responses. The children especially liked “Rolling Playdough Letters” and “Lacing Letters” as they liked to come up with and show me their letters. Another fun activity that the children also enjoyed was the balance beam challenge, many of the kids were motivating each other and clapping for each other when one succeeded. I enjoyed the dance party as most children expressed themselves through the movements that they made.

Although the activities were fun, there are some things that can be changed for the next time. Some activities such as the balance beam exercises took much time as planned. I would spend more time on each activity so that children could enjoy it to the maximum while at the same time closely monitoring the children during the changeover period. In some activities like yoga and dancing, the groups could be made smaller to make all the children participate. I would possibly divide the class into sections in order to work more closely with the students. It is possible to extend the creativity during the “Rolling Playdough Letters” activity by presenting children with different textures or colors of the playdough. Lastly, I would add more of guided discussions after each activity so that children could express themselves on what they did and also improve on their communication skills.

Fine Motor Activities

Lacing Letters

Activity Title: Lacing Letters

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards): Help the children maintain hand-eye coordination and enhance fine motor skills.

Materials Needed:

a. Letter cutouts (cardstock)

b. Lacing strings

c. Small beads (optional)

Prep Work:

Take solid color cardstocks, then using small scissors cut the letters from the cardstocks and also puncture holes for lacing.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: TTW call the TS together and then hold the letter cutouts in front of them. Tell them that they will be creating colorful letter necklaces.

b. Demonstration: Explain how to thread the string through the holes present in the letters.

c. Interactive Lacing: Make kids choose one letter and try to lace it. To add some fun, they can join small beads in between the letters to make positive displays.

d. Sharing Time: To finish the activity let the children show the class their “letter necklaces” and tell the letter they picked.

Rolling Playdough Letters

Activity Title: Rolling Playdough Letters

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

The activity will strengthen the muscles of the hand and help the children to identify the letters (Martino & Lape, 2021).

Materials Needed:

a. Playdough (various colors)

b. Letter templates (optional)

Prep Work:

Make a small quantity of playdough in various colors.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: Assemble the kids and tell them that they are going to make letters by using playdough.

b. Demonstration: Demonstrate to them how playdough can be shaped into ball-like structures before using it to form letters.

c. Hands-On Creation: Guide them that they should make their initials or any letter of their choice. Use such phrases like, “What letter is that?” to check on what has been learned.

d. Show and Tell: After that, you must complete, for example, the letters, and then the children have to tell the class about their letter and show it to the class.

Tearing Paper

Activity Title: Tearing Paper

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

Help the children develop a good hand musculature.

Materials Needed:

a. Random items like scrap paper (newspapers, old magazines, brightly colored paper)

b. Glue sticks

c. Construction paper

Prep Work:

Collect different scraps of paper and prepare some art area for the children.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: Tell students that they will be ripping the paper to create a collage hence the colorfulness of the papers.

b. Demonstration: Demonstrate to them how to crumple the paper and tear the paper into small pieces.

c. Creative Collaging: Engage children in cutting the pieces and invite them to make a collage on construction paper tearing the pieces. They can produce any shape or maybe describe a scene.

d. Gallery Walk: At this point, organize a gallery walk in which children can pin their collages and then discuss their details with other students.

Cutting on Lines

Activity Title: Cutting on Lines

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards)

Help the students develop better and more effective scissor skills.

Materials Needed:

a. Safety scissors

b. Letters and figures on a sheet of paper

c. Stickers for decoration

Prep Work:

Make sheets of different lines and shapes which have to be cut.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: Bring the children together and tell them what they are going to do today practice cutting.

b. Demonstration: Teach them how to grip the scissors and how to draw lines and then cut.

c. Hands-On Cutting: TTW let the children cut the shape. Explain to them that they should add stickers on their shapes once they are through with creating the shapes.

d. Sharing Session: There should be a sharing session whereby they can present what they have cut out as well as explain what they have made.

Tracing Letters and Numbers

Activity Title: Tracing Letters and Numbers

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

a. Improve handwriting

b. Increase control of fingers and differentiation between letters and numbers

Materials Needed:

a. Another type of worksheet is the tracing worksheet with letters and numbers.

b. Crayons or pencils

c. Decoration such as Glitter or stickers where necessary

Prep Work:

Provide tracing sheets with clean writings on them which may include letters and numbers.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: TTW tell TS that they will be drawing letters and numbers to be able to teach them how to write them.

b. Demonstration: Demonstrate to the kids how to use a crayon or pencil to go over the dots to complete the picture.

c. Tracing Fun: Suggest they draw with several lines on another piece of paper and then connect these times and decorate the worksheets with glitter or stickers.

d. Review Time: After tracing, children can be encouraged to reveal which of the letters or numbers they like most, and why so.

Gross Motor Activities

Simon Says

Activity Title: Simon Says

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

The activity will help further the reception abilities and sensations of the body.

Materials Needed: None

Prep Work:

Make a list of commands that lets the pet engage in playful activities.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: TTW go ahead and elaborate on the rules of Simon Says and how to go about the game.

b. Start Playing: Some of the examples include Simon says jump, and children should obey.

c. Fun Commands: Include silly actions (like ‘Simon says walk like a chicken’) to make them more interested in what is being taught (Calero-Morales et al., 2023).

d. Reflection: We should also let the students choose their favorite commands after they run through a few rounds.

Yoga for Kids

Activity Title: Yoga for Kids

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

Help the students work on flexibility and balance.

Materials Needed:

Yoga mats (optional)

Prep Work:

Develop a list of easy yoga asanas.

Instructions:

1. Introduction: Make them understand that they will be doing yoga to make them loosen up and flex.

2. Demonstration: Explain and then demonstrate a couple of stances, such as a tree stance and a downward-facing dog stance.

3. Guided Yoga: They should then initiate the children to a brief yoga exercise, and should ensure that the children mimic them (Calero-Morales et al., 2023).

4. Relaxation Time: Lastly, to conclude the learnings you can ask them to close their eyes for a few minutes and breathe lightly, feel free to lie down.

Music and Movement (Dance)

Activity Title: Music and Movement (Dance)

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

Improve relative fine motor control and temporal synchronization.

Materials Needed:

a. Music player

b. Music (children’s songs)

Prep Work:

TTW make a list of happy and rather cheerful musical compositions.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: TTW tell TS that they will be exercising by dancing and making some movements to the tune played.

b. Start Dancing: Allow the children to dance with more flail, with fewer restrictions.

c. Follow the Leader: Start incorporating some fun exercises that they should mimic, such as spinning, or jumping.

d. Dance Party: A fun dance could be to imitate one’s favorite dance style and gracefully dance for everyone.

Hula Hopping/Hopscotch

Activity Title: Hula Hopping/Hopscotch

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

The activity will help the students develop coordination and balance.

Materials Needed:

Hula Hoops Or Drawings Of Squares On The Ground For Hopscotch.

Prep Work:

TTW mark a particular area where children can freely use hula hoops or where you can draw hopscotch on the ground using chalk.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: Describe the patterns and rules that have to be followed while performing hopscotch or using hula hoops.

b. Demonstration: Demonstrate the kind of movement needed when creating hoops or hopscotch.

c. Group Challenge: Help the children use turns to perform the hoppers while recording the results of the number of times they can accomplish that.

d. Team Play: Children should be encouraged to form pairs and clap encouraging the other one as they take turns.

Balance Beams

Activity Title: Balance Beams

Objectives (Mississippi Early Learning Standards):

The activity will help enhance balance and concentration.

Materials Needed:

Tape: This tape can be in the form of a balance beam or merely a line drawn on the floor.

Prep Work:

TTW prepare a balance beam or a piece of low tape line.

Instructions:

a. Introduction: TT will tell TS how they will perform on the beam.

b. Demonstration: Illustrate how to perform activities on the beam with particular emphasis on how to cross it with one’s arms spread out to maintain balance.

c. Individual Practice: TTW make children alternate to cross the middle using their feet, then make suggestions that they should move differently for instance by walking backwards or sideways (Lita et al., 2023).

d. Balance Challenge: A more entertaining feature that TT can assign is to balance the bean bag on the head while crossing it.

References

Calero-Morales, S., Vinueza-Burgos, G. D. C., Yance-Carvajal, C. L., & Paguay-Balladares, W. J. (2023). Gross motor development in preschoolers through Conductivist and constructivist physical recreational activities: comparative research. Sports, 11(3), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports11030061

Lita, L., Hidayanti, M., & Rosidah, A. (2023). Outbound Kids Games in Early Childhood Learning: A Study of Gross Motor Skills. Journal of Innovation and Research in Primary Education, 2(1), 29-36. https://doi.org/10.56916/jirpe.v2i1.465

Martino, E. M., & Lape, J. E. (2021). Occupational therapy in the preschool classroom-Promoting fine motor and visual motor skills for kindergarten readiness. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 14(2), 134-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2020.1822261

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Question

Physical Activites:
Develop 10 motor activities, 5 fine motor and 5 gross motor.
Since I know that you will be doing some of your planning during naptime, feel free to handwrite your activities on the pdf provided. If you prefer to type them, I’m also attaching an editable word document. Either way, put them in the folder I’m bringing you at our first meeting. You will save them for your lesson plan.

Reflection – Physical, Fine Motor and Gross Motor Activities

WHAT YOU TURN IN TO ME:
For each activity, type the Activity Title and Objectives. This document should be uploaded here as the assignment.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
I WANT YOU TO USE THE FINE AND GROSS MOTOR SKILL I HAVE PROVIDED. JUST FIND AN OBJECTIVE TO GO WITH IT. AND GO INTO DETAIL HOW YOU GOING TO USE THE ACTIVITIES.
Fine Motor:
1. Lacing letters
2. Rolling up small balls of playdough to form a letter or number
3. Tearing paper
4. Cutting on lines is fine motor skill practice.
5. Tracing letters and numbers

Gross Motor:
1. Fun game of Simon Says
2. Yoga
3. Music and Movement (Dance)
4. Hula hopping/Hopscotch
5. Balance beams

Physical Development: 10 activities
Review the Physical Domain of the MS Early Learning
Standards

*Using the template provided, develop five fine motor
activities and five gross motor activities that will
support the physical development of the children in
your class. When you are developing these activities,
keep your first lesson plan in mind.

*Practice some of these (at least two) in your classroom
next week.

*Reflection #2: How did the activities go? Did the children
seem to enjoy them? What changes would you make?

Reflection – Physical, Fine Motor and Gross Motor Activities