Developing Gross Motor Skills at School KS2
Goals of Gross Motor Programme
- Improve body awareness
- Improve spatial awareness
- Improve endurance for physical activity
- Improve balance and co-ordination
- Improve bilateral integration skills
- To improve performance of functional activities
Warm-up Activities
Curl-Ups
-Lie on back with knees bent and arms crossed on chest, reach body up towards knees and hold for 3 seconds, repeat 10-30 times gradually increasing amount
Airplanes
-Lie on stomach, head up, arms straight ahead (elbows may be bent), thigh and legs off floor, hold as long as possible, repeat 5 times
Standing on One Foot
-Stand on each foot for as long as possible
Hopping
-Hop on each foot for as long as possible
Wall Push-Ups
-Stand arm’s length from the wall and try to push the wall away, repeat 10 times
Push Me Pull You
-Two people sit on floor facing each other with legs straight ahead and feet touching feet. Grasp each other’s hands with one starting to push and the other pull
Games and Activities
Walking on Lines
-Use masking tape on the floor to create straight and curved lines
-Walk slowly aiming for control and rhythm
-Practice walking forwards, backwards, sideways, criss cross pattern, hopping, up on toes, heels, heel to toe/fairy steps.
Targets
-Throw beanbags/balls into a bucket. Use a ball to knock down pins or aim at an object/ at the wall
-Start by throwing in standing and then try sitting on a bench, squatting, high kneeling, ½ kneel
Ball Games
-Stand in a circle with one person in the middle; pass back and forth from outside of circle to the person in the middle saying the name of the person as you throw
-Try using a bounce pass or a chest pass
-Make the ball a hot potato and pass quickly
-Try passing over and under – have children in a line, pass over one’s head and under the next one’s legs
-Lie on backs in a circle and try to keep a balloon/beach ball in the air
Goalie Ball
-Stand in a circle with one person in the middle; children in circle open their legs and touch feet with their neighbour to make bridges (goal); child in middle tries to roll the ball through their legs to get a goal while it can be blocked with hands
Streamers
-Give each child a long streamer and get them to stand in a circle. Demonstrate different movements and have children copy them. Try big arm circles, figure 8’s, up and down, snakes on the floor and moving around the room to music.
Ropes
-Try jumping over the rope on the floor, then raise the rope and have the child jump at several different heights
-Try jumping forwards, backwards, sideways or running and jumping
-Raise the rope and have children go under by crawling or slithering
-Play under the rainbow – throw the rope and children run under while it is up
-Practice with individual skipping ropes
Hoops
-Configure hoops as in hopscotch; play one foot and 2 feet hopping in hoops; change hoop patterns and feet patterns
-Simon Says using the hoop
-Step through a hoop in a variety of ways – feet first, head first, go under, step over
-Musical hoops – everyone must find a hoop when music stops; get children to move around as different animals or doing GM skills until the music stops
Scooter Boards
-Play scooter tag
-Practice body extension by having children prone on boards and pulling themselves around an obstacle course
-Sit on board and use both feet to push along
-Partners pull children prone on board with child holding onto a hoop keeping arms and legs straight
Parachute Games
-Moving the parachute up and down – good for graded squat movements
-Put beanie babies on the parachute and try to shake them of
-Put a beach ball on parachute and try to keep it up
-Cat and mouse game
-Make a tent or mushroom
Games
-Go, Go, Stop
-Mother may I?
-Frozen tag
-Ladders
-Hot potato
-Hockey
Balloons
-Try to keep the balloon off the floor either in group or individually
Balance Beam
-Walk forwards with a bean bag in each hand, then try sideways and backwards
-Place bean bags along the beam and step on them
-Put bean bags on floor beside beam, when child gets to one they must squat down and pick it up then keep going
-Place bean bag on head and walk along the beam
-If it is a low beam the children can hop sideways over beam and back
Walking
-Place a ladder on the floor and have child walk through rungs
-Put a rope on floor in a pattern and walk heel to toe following the pattern
-Marching in time to music