16. Week
During the upcoming week, we will continue in enhancing observation, hand-eye coordination, motor coordination, and the interplay between both hemispheres of the brain while also aiming to improve graphomotor skills. But what exactly does graphomotor skills mean?
Graphomotor skills encompass various hand-related proficiencies, such as:
holding a pencil appropriately,
maneuvering lines effortlessly across a paper,
drawing based on individual creativity,
mimicking pencil strokes.
It is crucial to promote these proficiencies among preschoolers, starting with reinforcing the proper pencil grip, maintaining relaxed hand postures, fostering drawing with meaningful content, and eventually imitating writing. However, fine motor abilities do not solely rely on finger movement, but on having a stable core, relaxed shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers. For this reason, we initiated the practice of drawing on all fours to encourage movement of the entire arm, including the shoulders and elbows. Only when a child can execute this task proficiently, can they move on to working on worksheets while seated at a table. If a child is rushed into this stage prematurely, they may develop an irregular pencil grip, exert excessive pressure on the pencil, or experience quick hand fatigue. Please refer to the accompanying video and tutorials below to familiarize yourself with these exercises, and let's celebrate physical exercise!
Video, download and description of exercises
Keepy Uppy clap!
We're going to make last week's activity a little more difficult. We'll continue to play with the balloon, but we'll also add some more challenges. Each time you ping the balloon, clap your hands quickly twice (or turn around, or squat 😊) before catching the balloon again.
Goal:
Improve hand-eye coordination
Improve brain hemisphere cooperation
Improve visual perception and concentration
Standing cross movements
Have the child standing with arms extended outward.
With an exhale, he/she touches their left knee with their right hand, then return to the starting position with a sigh.
Then repeat the process by touching the right knee with the left hand and exhaling, and so on.
Note: The exercise can also be modified by attempting to touch the knee with the elbow, but it is essential to prevent the child from hunching over. The extended arms ensure that the child returns to an upright position. This activity is a classic technique for improving the cooperation of the cerebral hemispheres and performing it while standing also enhances balance and coordination.
Goal:
Improve coordination of movement
Improve balance
Improve collaboration between the cerebral hemispheres.
Rolling barrels
Have the child lay on the floor on his back with his legs extended, arms stretched over his head and hands joined with interlaced fingers
The child slowly turns around by first bending one leg
The knee moves across the midline of the body and places the knee and shin on the ground (acts as a stopper)
When the knee and shin are completely on the ground, he/she can twist to the tummy completely and extend the leg
He turns back by first bending his leg, then turning his torso at the shoulder area
He rolls back onto his back and extends his leg
Repeat then the same on the other side
Note: when turning from the back to the tummy, be careful not to push the child's legs out by lifting the pelvis first, which will stretch the abdominal muscles, which will not then be involved in the movement. He must put his knee over the midline to the floor first, the rest of the body follows on its own. When turning from the belly to the back, he must not turn with a swing and an outstretched leg. The knee remains on the ground as long as possible.
Goal:
Improve reflexive rotation
Improve coordination of movement
Relax shoulders and back
Improve cooperation of the brain hemispheres
Simon Says
To play "Simon Says", you will need at least two people. So you can play this game with the whole family 😊. One person will play the role of "Simon" and give commands, while the other players will follow those commands. "Simon" gives commands starting with the phrase "Simon says". For example, "Simon says touch your toes" or "Simon says clap your hands".
The other players must follow the command only if "Simon" says "Simon says" at the beginning. If "Simon" doesn't say "Simon says" and gives the command anyway, the players should not follow it. For example, if "Simon" says "Jump", players should not jump.
Any player who follows a command without "Simon says" at the beginning is out of the game.
The game continues until only one player is left. That player is the winner.
Goal:
Improve auditory perception (listening skills)
Improve coordination of movement
Improve concentration
Hop little bunnies
We'll draw with both hands at once. We draw on the floor, on the board or on a large paper. The hands move spontaneously in the rhythm of the song hop little bunnies in the opposite direction and support each other so that the movements are smooth.
Draw:
Hop little bunnies hop hop hop,
Hop hop hop, hop hop hop
Hop little bunnies hop hop hop
Hop hop hop
Note: the hands make opposite movements, i.e. when one hand goes outwards, the other hand does outwards too, when it goes towards the centre, the other hand goes towards the centre too. This will improve the cooperation of the brain hemispheres. You can draw to the rhythm of any poem or song. The power of imagination has no boundaries. 😊
Goal:
improve graphomotor skills
Improve hand-eye coordination
Improve cooperation of the brain hemispheres.
I’m sure you have accomplished these tasks proficiently. For the upcoming week, please ensure you have a scarf or towel available. I look forward to seeing you!