Preschool: X is for eXercise

Last week was my turn to teach preschool again. W and X. For "W" we talked about "winter" and went on a winter wonderland walk. The weather cooperated and we got a nice dumping of snow over the weekend. That was fun. We talked about what happens to different kinds of plants and animals in the winter. We read books about winter. It was fun.

Then it was time to focus on "X" and so I told a story about how "X" was best friends with "E" and as long as they were together "X" was great. We talked about some "ex" words like "exciting" and "extra" and "exactly" etc. Then we spent the rest of the time talking about eXercise and why it is so important. We talked about how it helps our blood, breathing, muscles and bones. We talked about the right kinds of "fuel" for our eXercising machines (bodies). 

But mostly, we eXercised!

I made "snowballs" out of plastic bags wadded up and taped. Then they practiced throwing them at this big fat snowman. This was their favorite activity. We used these same snowballs to practice catching. I'd say their name and then throw to them so they could catch, then when they all had a snowball I'd say their name and they'd throw it back to me so I could catch. It really was a good eXercise.

Pushups. 

sit ups (did you know 4 year olds don't have the core strength or coordination to do sit ups? Well, at least these four didn't. It surprised me.)

ribbon dancing (probably the second favorite).

Balance beam

balance beam with "weights" (soup cans)

We also did yoga (cat, dog, and mountain poses), hiking (a pretend hike up the stairs), jumping (across a river - a blue rug), army crawls, jumping jacks, and a few others.

The time flew by and the kids loved it! I found most of my lesson plan ideas here. It is a great resource for getting your kids moving!