While Looker and Listener skills come into play in the classroom. Mover skills are what enable a child to shine in other areas—areas important to her social, if not her academic, well-being. Kindergarteners who display a Mover's coordination, agility, and speed are gym-class, backyard, and playground standouts who attain a certain satisfying status that only the admiration of peers can bring.
Movers, certainly, will greet with delight any parental attempts to increase tactile stimulation. By working in an auditory or visual element, you're likely to see similar improvement in the gross motor skills of Listeners and Lookers. These ideas should help you encourage Mover skills in your five-year-old learner.
ENHANCING A KINDERGARTENER’S EXISTING MOVER SKILLS
■ Teach your child to use a jump rope and a Hula Hoop.
■ Help your child plant her own garden in a barrel or a comer of the yard. Provide a child-sized rake, hoe, shovel, and watering can.
■ Encourage outdoor play by offering sprinklers, water guns, and toys like Wham-O's Slip and Slide in summer; and sleds, child-sized snow shovels, and ice skates in winter.
■ Kick, pass, and throw a child-sized football or soccer ball.
■ Make a parade by marching and playing rhythm-band instruments.
■ The Nerf foam basketball is safe and fun, and there's even a suction- cup net available for indoor play.
■ Purchase a pair of child-sized in-line skates, and accompany your child down the street or to the local rink.
■ Play a game of charades, using exaggerated body movements to depict words, animals, and occupations.
■ Enroll your child in a swimming program at the local YM/YWCA or YM/YWHA.
H Introduce your child to miniature golf. Many cities and towns even have indoor courses for foul-weather play.
■ Provide your child with her first organized-sports experience by signing her up for a community soccer or T-ball team.
■ Jog around the block or take a hike together.
■ Check with your local bowling alley to see whether it provides "bumpers"—guards that deflect the ball from the gutter. If so, take your child bowling!
■ Teach your child to play "High Water, Low Water." In this game, a rope is stretched between two players who instruct a third player to jump over the rope by saying "high water," or to crawl beneath it by saying "low water."
■ When your child plays in a sandbox, provide an accompanying bucket of water to add a new, if somewhat messy, element to the experience.
ENCOURAGING THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOVER SKILLS IN LOOKER AND LISTENER KINDERGARTENERS
■ Enroll your child in a gymnastics class or beginner swim class, first making sure that the teacher has a gentle approach and discourages competition.
■ Draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk, and teach your child to play.
■ Turn a nursery rhyme or familiar story into a mini-drama, and act it
out with your child. Demonstrate that gestures can be used to communicate, in place of words.
■ Encourage outdoor play by offering a three-wheeled scooter, or a bicycle with training wheels.
■ Suggest that your child invite neighborhood children to her yard for active games like tag or hide-and-seek.
■ Pretend to be a certain animal, and invent a story line to go with your pantomiming: "Come on, little frog. Let's jump over to that puddle and see if any other frogs are there."
■ Workshop by Little Tikes is a child-sized workbench that contains plastic nails, nuts, bolts, and screws, as well as the necessary tools.
■ Fun Jumpers by G. Pierce Toy Company are jumping shoes that look like frogs. They enable a child to bounce around on large rubber-covered springs.
■ Use a yardstick or broom handle to play "Over and Under the Stick." Encourage your child to climb or jump over or slide beneath a stick, which you can alternately raise and lower.
■ Take your child to the park or playground frequently. This will delight her social side while encouraging gross motor play.
■ Ask your child to help you with heavy cleaning or yard work. Keep a conversation going during your efforts.
■ Suggest slow-moving games, like backyard croquet, or games that require as much luck as skill, like dropping pennies into a jar at the bottom of a water-filled bucket.
■ Convince your child that her doll or bear needs some fresh air. Accompany her as she pushes or pulls the toy in a stroller or wagon.
■ Invest in a toy delivery truck, emergency vehicle, mail truck, or school bus, and encourage your child to act out story lines with it.
■ Pack some flashlights into a backpack and accompany your child on
an after-dark adventure. You can catch fireflies, stargaze, and chase each other's shadows en route.
As you scan the above lists of toys and activities, remember that they are intended only as guidelines to help you round out your kindergartener's learning skills. If a suggested toy happens to be something that you can recall disliking as a child, or if the presence of an exploring baby in the house makes you extra cautious about toy purchases, feel free to pass certain items by! Similarly, if an activity from a skill-enhancement list aimed at other learners seems ideal for your child, don't hesitate to give it a try. Certainly, your discretion and knowledge of your child's tastes should be a factor in the toy-selection process. It's not necessary, nor is it advisable, to bombard her with every suggested item!
Be aware that you may not see immediate improvement in your child's learning skills. In fact, depending on her personality, learning style, and initial skill level, it may take many weeks to effect a noticeable difference. But, regardless of whether improvement takes five days or five months, offering the right activities and playthings will round out your kindergartener's academic and social development, boosting her self-esteem in the bargain.