Ten Fun Moves to Count Down to the New Year!

Are you ready for the ultimate New Year’s Countdown? Get ready to wiggle, jump, spin, and roll into the new year with these 10 awesome moves! For easier following along, click the link to the video at the bottom of this post 

10. Ball Drop Jumps – To do these jumps, bring both knees into your chest while jumping into the air. Then land with both feet on the ground (compare to cannon ball jumps). Now you are looking like the sparkliest, shiniest new years ball ever!

9. (Virtually) Calling Friends and Family – Stand with your feet out wide, lean into one knee, and waive your hand or make a “telephone hand” and bring it up to your ear to call friends and family to wish them a Happy New Year! Repeat this 9 times total, leaning to opposite sides each time to calling 9 important people in your life! 

8. Rising Apple Cider Bubbles – For this sweet move, crouch down until you are in a small ball close to the ground, with your hands touching the ground. Slowly wiggle your fingers and rise up until youre all the way on your tippy toes with your wiggly fingers in the air! Now you know what if feels like to be the bubbles in your Sparking Apple Cider! Repeat this one 8 times!

7. Confetti Squiggle Jumps – Jump in the air and wiggle your arms every which way to pretend you are kooky confetti, floating in all directions as it flies through the air

6. Clock Jumps – Point one toe forward to 12 o’clock on an imaginary clock on the floor. Then jump with your toe pointed to 1 o’clock, then 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, and so on until you have jumped with one foot around the ENTIRE clock! Repeat with the other foot.

5. Logs on the fire – Start a warm fire by lying down on the ground on your back and roll to your tummy. Then roll to your back! To make it extra hard, try to not let your arms and legs touch the ground! Repeat this 5 more times (3 times to each side), to imagine yourself as your favorite new years treat!

4. Firework Jumping Jacks – Crack, pop, and sizzle as you do 4 jumping jacks and show off all your new years colors!

3. Globe Spins – Did you know that every time we celebrate a new year, the Earth has completed one full trip around the Sun? And every year, it takes 365 days for the Earth to complete this trip. Each day, the earth spins around one time! SO, as we spend the last days of 2020, thinking about 2021, the Earth is finishing its final spins for the year! Do 3 spins like the Earth does every day!

2. New Years Hugs – You’ve almost made it to 2021, give yourself two BIG hugs to show some appreciation to yourself for all the hard work you have done this year before the new year!

1. New Year Hooray Jumps – Do one star jump, where your legs and arms all jump outward at the same time. When you land, bring them back together. Don’t forget to shout “Hooray!”
Want to show us your New Year’s Countdown? Send us clips of you jumping your way through these moves! Email us at admin@kidpt.com or message us on Instagram or Facebook @kidPT and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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Outdoor Time: It’s More Than Just a Walk in the Park!

Many schools are going virtual until after the holidays, and we know what that means… more screen time. We’ve heard a pattern: many parents feel like it is hard for their child to stay engaged in their classroom activities when they are learning through a screen all day, and we hear ya, who wants to stare at a computer screen ALL DAY? Humans thrive through in person experiences, where they get to use every one of their senses, and this especially includes little humans!

Children are learning a high volume of information every day to make sense of their world and their ever changing environments. One great way to supply them with a lot of valuable information for learning and moving is to take them outside. Time outside will give them a break from the screen time and will give them the freedom and space to stretch their legs so they can move! Research says that kids can benefit from being outside for more than just a little fresh air, here are three of the amazing benefits of letting your kids immerse themselves in their outdoor world:

  1. Increased activity level: When kids are outside, they have so much SPACE to get their energy out! Many will want to jump, run, and move all around to explore their new and unfamiliar surroundings. This free exploration will let them work on those essential gross motor skills in a new and novel way. Maybe they want to jump in a pile of leaves, try to climb a tree, or run up and down a grassy hill (safely and with supervision of course)!
  1. Opportunity for new sensory stimulation: There are so many fun textures, colors, smells, and sounds at the park, in the woods, or at the beach. Playing in any of these places can be turned into a science exploration where kids can learn about why some leaves are waxy and some are soft while feeling it first hand, seeing what the little hairs on leaves look like and how tall they are, and hearing the sound from their fingers brushing a soft leaf compared to a waxy one. There are so many possibilities for learning in a sensorially engaging way!
  1. Reduces stress levels and improves attention: A walk in the park or a hike CAN boost your child’s attention, and this has been seen in both neurotypical children and children with ADHD. Even a short walk can do it, researchers discovered that as little as 20 minutes in the park significantly improved attention and cognitive performance (Faber Taylor & Kuo, 2009). Kids have also been seen to associate nature with words such as “calming” and “relaxing” when participating in programs requiring outdoor time (Chawla, Keena, Pevec, & Stanley, 2014).

We hope your family gets to spend some quality outdoor time this fall! We’d love to see pictures of you playing and having a blast out there, so tag @kidpt on Facebook or Instagram or email admin@kidpt.com of you getting your fresh air on!! Stay tuned next week for outdoor distanced activities to keep your kids entertained and moving with their friends in a safe way.

References: 

Faber Taylor, A., & Kuo, F. E. (2009). Children With Attention Deficits Concentrate Better After Walk in the Park. Journal of Attention Disorders, 12(5), 402–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054708323000

Louise Chawla, Kelly Keena, Illène Pevec, Emily Stanley. Green schoolyards as havens from stress and resources for resilience in childhood and adolescence. Health & Place, 2014; 28: 1 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.03.001

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How to Hijack Screen Time to Include Movement: A Guide to Holiday Gift Giving for Your Tech Loving Child

We hope everyone had a very happy and safe thanksgiving, with lots of yummy food! One thing Thanksgiving always gets us thinking about is the holiday season and shopping for the best gifts that the kiddos in our lives will smile when opening!

Now, there are many kids these days who love screen time, video games, and everything electronic. Sometimes we hear parents saying “He loves the iPad” which is often followed with a statement about how worried they are that their child’s screen time is causing them to be less physically active and less interested in activities involving movement. First thing is first, if you’re reading this and nodding along, don’t worry, you are not alone! We are now in the technological age, and it is next to impossible to avoid screens. While it is important to limit screen time for a child who wants to use them 24/7, we can also use screens for movement!

Games involving screens are often very engaging, they involve a story line or a progression, many involve reaching goals and checkpoints, and usually very colorful. Studies show that when a child is engaged in an activity, their whole brain lights up, meaning their whole brain is being used and worked to complete a task and not just a small part of the brain. This means they are getting more out of the activity they are doing and making many connections in the brain! 

So, if you want to engage your video game lover in an activity that will keep their attention but also will make them move, try a game that combines movement with a screen. Don’t get us wrong, screens ALL the time is not what we are advocating for here, but using something your child loves to make movement seem more valuable to them might save you a few headaches here and there.

Here is a list of games that your little gamer is sure to love:

  1. Ring Fit Adventure on the Nintendo Switch: If you have a Switch, Ring Fit is an amazing game that makes the player use a pilates ring to strengthen their arms and legs while also squatting, running in place, and performing other great strengthening movements. It also does all of this while either taking the player through a virtual adventure or letting them play many mini games that rank score and performance! 

Find out more here: https://ringfitadventure.nintendo.com/

  1. BoBo balance disk on the Ipad: The Bobo uses a wobbly balance disk and pairs with the ipad to show the player what their feet are doing in a variety of fun games that challenge balance on two feet or one foot! Use the discount Bobo30 at checkout for 30% off!

Find out more here: https://bobo-balance.com/

  1. Just Dance: This is a great game that has been around for a while and is so lively and fun. Multiple players can dance at a time, and it uses current pop music to get every member of the family moving and grooving! It is compatible with many different types of game systems, including the Switch, Wii, Xbox360, Xbox One, and newer versions of playstation.

Find out more here: https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/just-dance/2021

  1. Arms: Arms is a futuristic boxing game made for Nintendo Switch that has players boxing with very colorful and creative characters, and though it was not originally designed as a fitness game, it will make each player work! Tip for this one, kids who know how to switch the controls to let them play without physically boxing might do so, so watch out for this and encourage them to play standing to get them working.

Find out more here: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/arms-switch/

  1. Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved: This is a game that would be perfect for any music or disney lover who is a little bit on the older end. The player controls or conducts music with their hand motions, and this music includes pop and classical symphonies. This game is great for coordination of hand and arm movement and is compatible with Xbox360 or XboxOne

Find out more here: https://www.amazon.com/Disney-Fantasia-Music-Evolved-Xbox-One/dp/B00KVLPNL4

  1. Beat Sabre: If your child is SUPER techy and you are planning on buying something like a virtual reality system as a holiday gift, then this game is a perfect addition that will keep your child moving while they figure out all of that new tech! This game has the player slicing through different shapes to a particular beat, with many directional changes and varied difficulties. The combination of music, movement, and changes in direction are great for working on coordination of the whole body while having a blast!

Find out more here: https://beatsaber.com/

  1. Pokemon GO: Pokemon GO is a free app your child can download onto apple devices that requires them to walk around and explore the great outdoors to find Pokemon, grow and hatch eggs, and battle with other players. Time outdoors has been shown to improve attention and decrease stress level. It is definitely smart to supervise younger children while they are out and about playing this one, because you never know where a pokemon is going to turn up, and you want to make sure they’re being safe at all times!

Find out more here: https://www.pokemongo.com/en-us/

  1. Just Dance Now: This app pairs a phone with an internet connected device, like a computer, and uses the phone as a handheld controller to sense the players’ dance moves. This game, like other Just Dance platforms, is dancing fun for the whole family, and you can use devices you already own to play it!

Find out more here: https://justdancenow.com/

  1. Zombies, Run! This game inspires players to KEEP RUNNING as they are the lead in a zombie narrative, and are trying to stay alive! This game is great for any child who loves adventure and is most appropriate for children who are 12 years old and older due to content and activity level.

Find out more here: https://zombiesrungame.com/

  1. GoNoodle: Go noodle is a database of movement videos and activities that are designed for fun movement that works the brain AND the body and are used within many Kindergarten to 5th grade classroom environments as brain breaks. Parents can create an account that has a “Champ”, an avatar that grows as children earn points through completing activities, which helps with long term engagement too! 

Find out more here: https://www.gonoodle.com/

Have fun moving together and if you find more movement games please share them with the Kid PT community!

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