Balloon Batting (Gross Motor)
Practicing body mechanics, color and counting skills
Instructions
- Together inflate four balloons - two blue and two yellow
- See how long a child can keep in the air one blue balloon (count aloud) by batting with their hands
- Now try keeping in air two balloons - one yellow and one blue (count aloud) by batting with hands
- Suggest to a child they bat with different parts of body - hands, elbows, feet, head, etc.
- Have the child pick one color and bat balloon back and forth with a partner
- Try to keep all four balloons in the air with a partner
Simplify
Use two balloons - one blue and one yellow
Extend
When batting all four balloons, let a child say out loud the color of the balloon that is being hit. Set a timer for one minute and count how many times a balloon touches the ground. Practice until no balloons hit the ground in one minute.
QUESTIONS FOR CHILD
What makes the balloons stay in the air?
If you could float in the air, what would you see?
Curriculum Plan Resources
Skills Focus
- Shape - Circle
- Color - Blue
- Number - Two, 2
- Alphabet Letters - B, F
- Senses - Hearing
- Character Trait - Joyfulness
- Target Words - Big, Bigger, Happy, Small
Monthly Proverb
Unknown “Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day."
Did You Know?
“A 3-year-old toddler's brain is twice as active as an adult's brain.”- Sean Brotherson, NDSU
Books to Read
"Color Dance"
by Ann Jonas (Activity 8)
"The Grouchy Ladybug"
Eric Carle (Activity 12)
"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"
by Bill Martin and John Archambault (Activity 4)
"Color Dance" VIDEO
by Ann Jonas (Activity 8)
"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" VIDEO
by Bill Martin and John Archambault (Activity 4)
"The Grouchy Ladybug" VIDEO
by Eric Carle (Activity 12)
Music Playlist
"Jump Up It’s A Good Day"
by Brady Rymer Album Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could (Children) (Activity 10)
"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes "
by Countdown Kids Album 100 Silly Songs (Children) (Activity 24)
"Joyfulness"
by Nabil David Huening Album Children’s Virtues Songs (Children) (Activity 13)
"If You’re Happy and You Know It "
by Dora the Explorer Album Party Favorites (Activity 26)
"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" VIDEO
by Super Simple Songs (Activity 24)
"If You're Happy and You Know It" VIDEO
by Super Simple Songs (Activity 26)
"Joyfulness" VIDEO
by Nabil David Huening (Activity 13)
"Jump Up It's A Good Day" VIDEO
by Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could (Activity 10)
Monthly Materials List
Click Here to view the list!
Fingerplay / Poems / Songs
Touch Your Nose
(Activity 25 Month 2)
Touch your nose, touch your chin, That’s the way this game begins.
Touch your eyes, Touch your knees; Now pretend you’re going to sneeze.
Touch your hair, Touch one ear; Touch your two red lips right here.
Touch your elbows where they bend,
That’s the way this touch game ends.