Director's Column: Big Games
I’m guessing many of you are looking forward to the big game this weekend. Although pro football may not provide the best example of sportsmanship, children can still take away lessons about teamwork, perseverance, and practice, practice, practice! Every Friday, we get to play all kinds of games with Coach Brian and Coach John at Creative Movement. This week the parachute came out, and I was impressed with how well the children did, and how much they can learn from parachute play!
Before starting the games, Coach Brian had the children shake the parachute, then lift it up in the air and shout hello to each other from underneath. He did this three times, to make sure children were able to listen and follow instructions. The first game had the children taking turns catching balls in the middle of the parachute, while the children on the sides shook it. When Brian asked who wanted to be in the middle, all children immediately yelled "ME!". They had to patiently wait their turn to be in the middle, and help their friends by shaking the parachute when it was not their turn. The next game was to lift the parachute on the count of three, then, while still holding the edge, step underneath and sit down with the edge behind them, forming a giant parachute "mushroom". This meant following multi-step directions, as well as teamwork and cooperation. If one child did not go under, or sit down properly, the mushroom would collapse. Finally, they played a game of cat and mouse, with the mouse darting around under the parachute, while the cat tried to catch the mouse from on top of the parachute. This took observation, planning, and coordination, skills. It also meant that sometimes the mouse wins and sometimes the cat wins ... and that's ok! We are fortunate to have Coach Brian and Coach John visiting us every week. They also provide after school and vacation classes and camps. If you are around over February break, you might want to check out their upcoming "Games Galore" vacation camp. Your children will learn while exercising and having fun!