For anyone who knows my kids, they know that we are an animal family. Ask my oldest about any obscure animal around the world and he likely has a fact or 2 to share with you. My kids are constantly reading about animals and asking questions about them too. They just can’t get enough!
When my oldest was around 2, he decided that he wanted to be a zoologist. Thank you Wild Kratts for introducing him to that as a potential career! And when the younger boys got old enough, they began to share that love for animals.
Since we are such animal fans over here, I decided to turn that love into a fun way to get the kids moving and practice some gross motor skills in the process. Let’s break it down:
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Materials
- Popsicle Sticks
- Marker
- Cup of some sort
How To
This is a great activity to prep ahead of time and keep on hand for those instances where you need a quick, controlled activity or to help your kiddo burn off a little energy without jumping off of the couch!
- Grab your popsicle sticks and marker
- Write a different animal movement on each popsicle stick. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Crab Walk
- Bear Crawl
- Frog Hop
- Dinosaur Stomp
- Bunny Hop
- Cheetah Run
- Inchworm
- Place each popsicle stick in the cup when you are finished
- Model how to do each movement with your kiddos
- Show off those animal moves!
Enjoy!
This is a great way to stay active indoors on a cold or rainy day. It is also a wonderful way to strengthen those large muscles and work on balance and coordination with your littles.
We are a very active family, and my kids are always running around. Playing this animal game gets them to slow down a little and focus on the specific movement that they are replicating. We love it and hope that you do too!
Thank you so much for reading, sweet friend. You can find us on Pinterest and see what we are up to on Instagram. Are you animal lovers too?! Then this activity is just for you!
