Using Visual Aids:
There are TONS of props out there for kids but there are easy ways to make your own!
- Use floor markers to outline a path. If you tell preschoolers to “follow the dots or arrow” they will take you quite literally and step on every single one you put out!
- Use tape for markings (and be consistent). If you are working on rolls down a wedge use two straight lines where their feet go and two x’s where their hands should go! This will help them understand how to move their body! Same goes with lunges for handstands or training kicks!
- Print off pictures! Preschoolers love copying others. If they see another child about their size do something they can’t, they are more likely to try it than an adult/parent. Print off pictures of a child (or animal – they love animals) doing the move you want them to do!
- Use scarves, bean bags, cones, etc. They can use these to put on body parts, jump over, kick, smash – anything you want them to do. They just have to have an object as their imagination is not developed yet! (they can not pretend to smash a bean bag, it has to be there).