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Get moving even in the winter: It does young bodies (and brains) good!

Though the weather outside can be downright frightful, it doesn’t have to be a deterrent to staying active with your child. There are plenty of fun activities families can do together during these chilly months that not only build strong bodies but help develop important motor skills that will ultimately lead to strong minds.

Karyn Amico-Dziezynski, an occupational therapist, says that physical activity strengthens the very muscles children use when learning to read and write. "The more opportunities children have to practice a variety of physical skills from a very young age, the better prepared they will be to learn in school," she says.

Following are some fun activities that build physical and motor skills. Children should be encouraged to try new things but should never be forced beyond their abilities. Use your child’s age, developmental level and temperament to determine which of these activities seem appropriate. If you are uncertain, talk with your pediatrician.

Trunk and shoulder strength — needed to sit for lengths of time and stabilize the arms for writing

• Use the playground as weather permits.

• Do the wheelbarrow walk—i.e. hold children by the ankles and let them walk with their hands and arms — or for very young children, hold them at the middle or by the thighs until their upper body strength develops to support their entire body.

• Roll and push snowballs for snowmen.

Hand and finger strength — needed to write, hold pencils, cut, pinch and pick up small objects

• Knead bread dough.

• Decorate cookies with sprinkles.

• Squeeze a pastry tube.

• Play with modeling clay.

• Squeeze colored glue from bottles onto paper to make pictures.

• Pack snowballs.

• Squirt a spray bottle filled with colored water onto the snow.

Perceptual skills — these include the ability to recognize shapes and colors, to find one object in the midst of others and to match (i.e., to understand that one object is the same as another)

• Play with nesting blocks.

• Match pairs of socks when mom or dad is folding laundry.

• Make a scavenger hunt out of finding all of the circles, squares, triangles or other shapes throughout the house.

• Play with building blocks.

Eye coordination — needed to read books and chalkboards.

• Play ball games that involve rolling or catching.

• Have the child follow the beam of a flash light as it is shined around a dark room.

Fine motor coordination — needed to button, zip, manipulate objects and refine writing skills

• Give children plenty of opportunities to dress and undress themselves, including zippering, buttoning and fastening.

• Make collages out of edible objects such as raisins and O-shaped cereal (good for children who are apt to put things in their mouths) or dried beans or popcorn kernels for older children.

• Engage in fingerplaying such as the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Where is Thumbkin?

• Use the dial on a play phone.

• Push buttons on electronic toys.

• Use lacing board and cubes.

• Pick up cotton balls.

Becoming comfortable with movement

• Roll (This is great fun in newly fallen snow).

• Make snow angels.

• Use an indoor obstacle course to get from one place to another (e.g., let’s follow the leader to get to our snack in the dining room by climbing over this pile of pillows, around the rocking chair, under the coffee table and down the hall).
  

• Draw designs with finger on plates covered with foods that can go in the mouth such as whipped cream, pudding, yogurt or (for older children) on cookie trays covered with dried rice or cornmeal.