Skill shelf · staying steady while moving · 6 activities
Balance and Coordination
A line on the floor and something that will spill, which between them turn balance into a game a child can see herself winning.
Nearly everything here is the same two objects. A line, which gives the rule, and something that will fall over, which reports on how well the rule is being kept. Three metres of masking tape and a cup with an inch of water in it is a complete activity, and the water says more about how a four year old is walking than anybody standing over her could.
The climb is in those two objects rather than in anything new. Walk a wide taped line at two. Stand on a board that rocks about a centimetre at three. Carry a full cup along the line at four. Go heel to toe at five with coins stacked on a saucer, which makes slow the only way across. Put the feet on two upturned tins at six. That is four years of the same idea, and every step of it is masking tape and things from the cupboard.
One on this shelf is not done with the feet at all. Blowing a ping pong ball down the table through a short straw is aim and breath working together, and it belongs here for the same reason as the rest: something light is being steered, badly at first. Next door, body awareness and position sense takes four of these six and asks for them with the eyes doing less of the work.
The six
Ordered by the age they suit best, from two to eight. Each line gives the setup, the play time and how much space it wants.
- Walking the Balance Line Your child walks the length of a strip of tape stuck to the floor, slowly, and then turns round and walks back. 2 min · under 5 min · household only
- Balance Board Coin Steady Your child stands on a board that rocks slightly and tries to keep a coin still on the back of her hand, which means the whole body has to go quiet. no setup · 5 to 10 min · household, or a bought set
- Straw Blow Ping Pong Race Your child blows a ping pong ball across the table through a straw, and races it to a strip of tape at the far end. no setup · under 5 min · household only
- Painters Tape Floor Balance Track Your child walks a line of tape stuck to the floor without stepping off it, then does it again carrying something. 4 min · 10 to 20 min · one substitute needed
- Balance Beam Coin Carry Your child walks a taped line heel to toe carrying a small stack of coins on a saucer, and discovers that the only way across is slowly. 2 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Bucket Stilts Balance Track Your child stands on two upturned tins, holds a rope in each hand to keep them under her feet, and walks a taped line across the garden. 15 min, once · 10 to 20 min · household only
Low-tack painter's tape is the one thing worth buying the right sort of, because it lifts off wood and laminate cleanly days later.