Kids are filled with energy and love to jump around and play. While this certainly keeps them engaged, it also adds to the development of their gross motor skills! When you add games to the mix, the fun learning levels for the children increase manifold!
Here are some games you can try the next time your kids want to jump around the house!
1. Lilly Pads Jumping Game
The Lilly Pads jumping game can be played in groups as well as individually. Choose large objects such as place mats, hula hoops, or flat cardboard boxes, as Lilly pads. Place about eight Lilly pads on the ground in such a way that each Lilly pad should be placed one foot apart. Lilly pads are known to hold anyone on it safely above the river. Let your preschoolers jump from one Lilly pad to the next by taking turns in order, one at a time while play-pretending the Lilly pads are in water. The kid who misses jumping on to the Lilly pad and touches the ground outside the Lilly Pad is out or must start all over again.
2. Jump Rope Relay
In this game, gather some preschoolers and divide them into five to six groups. Provide each group of kids with one jump rope. Make all groups stand in a horizontal line with a specific distance of about 4-5 feet between two groups. Place the jump rope at about the distance of 30 feet in front of each group. Once you say ‘Start’, the first player of each group should run towards the jump rope, get it, do seven jumps, and return to their group. Then the second should do the same. Likewise, all players of the group should follow the jumping pattern. Whichever group finishes the first is the winner.
3. Water Splash Jump Rope
The ‘Water Splash Jump Rope’ game helps promote balanced jumping skills in your kids. To play this game, make a group of preschoolers and provide each kid one plastic cup filled full with water. Two grownups need to twirl a long jump rope and the preschoolers should attempt three consecutive jumps one by one, by holding the plastic cup full of water in their hands. While jumping, your preschoolers should try to maintain balance to not to let the water in the cup spill out. The kid having the most water left in his plastic cup is the winner.
4. Poison Balls on Trampoline Game
Introducing your preschoolers to trampoline games is a great way to hone their jumping skills. Place some balls on a trampoline. Tell preschoolers to treat balls as poison and jump on the trampoline by avoiding the balls. The balls will roll around as your kids jump on the trampoline. If any kid touches a ball on the trampoline while jumping, he is out. The preschooler who continues to jump without touching the balls and remains the last on the trampoline is the winner.
5. Jumping Game with Soft Ball
In this game, provide one small, soft ball to each preschooler. Tell all kids to hold the ball between their legs, such that it doesn’t fall down, and hop from one marked end on the ground to the other marked end to pass the ball to their team member present at the other end. If the ball held between the legs falls, that preschooler is out.