3 Bear Inspired Activities for Core Strength, Coordination and Calming the Mind and Body
Try these brain breaks at any time throughout the day to bring a sense of fun and playfulness as you support children to build core strength, coordination and promote calm.
Core strength isn’t all about having a six pack! It is essential in children for the development of gross and fine motor skills. Many children who slump and can’t maintain a good sitting posture or who sit on the floor in “W” sitting are lacking core strength. This lack of core strength can affect children’s ability to coordinate fine movements, impacting learning and play. Yoga to the rescue!
Kids yoga offers many core strengthening yoga poses and games, such as balances, downward facing dog, plank, cobra pose, and cat. Children can have fun taking their yoga animals for a walk and moving around in their animal shapes. Walking around in these animal poses isn’t only fun though, these movements are beneficial for core strength and they also help to build important coordination skills. Try the bear walk activity outlined in our free poster below and take children for an adventure through the forest.
Developing coordination skills is all about teamwork between the mind and the body. The younger the children the more straightforward the activities, building to more complex and refined activities as children grow. Good coordination not only supports mind-body communication but also boosts focus and problem-solving. Try the bear climbing activity for some cross midline action.
And finally, knowing how to use the breath to calm mind and body is an important skill for emotional regulation and wellbeing. This is where bear breathing comes in. This mindful breathing techniques encourages children to breathe slowly and deeply which helps to reduce stress, anxiety and overwhelm, and activates the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for enabling a calm, grounded, focused state of mind.
