Physical activity is important to many aspects of child health and development. In young children,
lack of physical activity is a risk factor for many health problems such as high blood pressure, weight gain, excess body fat, bad cholesterol, respiratory difficulties, cardiovascular diseases and bone health problems. Moreover, the health benefits of physical activity extend well beyond physical health, having a positive impact on the domains of motor skills, psychological well-being, cognitive development, social competence and emotional maturity.

Research has shown that young children tend to be more active if their parents participate in physical activity and are active with them, and if they spend more time outside.

This activity works on various skills like hand-eye coordination, balancing, concentrating, teamwork, good sportsmanship, following instructions and also inventing your own rules!

Steps:

1. Make tennis rackets with spoons or paint stirrers attached with painter's tape on paper plates

2. Blow balloons and hit it back and forth. You can make up your own rules as you go

3. In addition to hitting the balloons back and forth, you can have a race where the children have to try to balance the balloons on their plates and run across the room

4. In another variation, they can try to see how many times they can hit their own balloons up in the air without letting them touch the ground