My toddler is obsessed with his stuffed animals. I mean like at least 10 sleeping with him a night. Which animal he likes the best really depends on the day. This week we tried an activity where we could use his stuffed animals in play while building his core strength. This idea came from the The Core Strengthening Handbook (affiliate link). It’s a book written by my friends at The Inspired Treehouse.
Core Strength Through Play
Kids need core strength for motor development. I can hardly see my toddler sitting down and performing an exercise video like I try to do. That’s why for my toddler, core strengthening comes through play. The flying animal activity is a perfect example of this!
Flying Animals
Needed – Stuffed animals (You really only need one, but your kid may want to try a variety)
I started by having my toddler squeeze his stuffed animal between his ankles (he chose his panda bear today).
I had him make his panda bear fly by keeping his legs up in the air and moving the bear around.
I also had him bring his feet to me so we could pass the panda back and forth.
I encouraged him to land his panda (by bringing it close to the ground) and make his panda fly again (by bringing it up to the air)!
He laughed so hard and had so much fun! He thought it was crazy that his panda could fly!
The Core Strengthening Handbook
Like I mentioned, this fun activity came from the Core Strengthening Handbook. The book is designed for therapists, teachers, child development specialists and parents. What I love about this book is it gives a nice overview of why core strengthening is important, what the core muscles are, why kids aren’t as strong as they used to be, what weak core muscles look like and my favorite part is it gives a ton of different ways to strengthen the core muscles through play!
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My store at Pink Oatmeal has ideas to get the kids moving at home, in the classroom, and in therapy! If you prefer Teachers Pay Teachers you can find me there too with even more ideas to get the kids moving!
What a fun way for kids to work on those core muscles! I am going to have to try this one with my son. He loves his stuffed animals.
I’m sure he will love it! My toddler thinks it’s hilarious!
I LOVE this! Was just chatting to a fellow teacher about fun ways to develop core strength with reluctant children. They will lovethis!