This post is contributed by Jennifer of Study at Home Mama.
Play Pretend with this Gross Motor Activity!
After making our own Billy Goats Gruff paper masks, we just had to get outside and have some fun with them! We decided to pretend to be Billy Goats trying to cross a bridge. This simple Billy Goats Gruff gross motor activity was quick to set up and allowed for over 45 minutes of pretend play!
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Our Three Billy Goats Gruff Gross Motor Activity
By setting up a fun invitation for Billy Goats Gruff pretend play, the children were encouraged to remember and recreate the classic folk tale and work together to carry out the story line. They wore their masks to get into character, and we even had a grumpy troll volunteer to stay under the bridge!
(However, just in case one of those goats lost their balance, the troll did not remain under the bridge during our play. A toy troll would be a great alternative.)
We used our Waldorf rocking board for the bridge, but a plank of wood or a balance beam would work well, too. I placed two blue and white scarves underneath for the river.
(I love how versatile our Waldorf rocking board is – we’ve used it as a pirate ship, as an indoor slide, as a one-person see-saw, a pretend surfboard, and in our kids’ yoga activities. I’ve even used it myself for stretching!)
We first tried walking across the bridge, which might sound pretty straight-forward but was actually quite challenging with the combination of the slope of the board and the requirement to walk in a straight line in order to not go off of the sides.
Mister D, seen here, observed that it was harder to walk down the board than walk up it.
Once they had mastered walking across the “bridge,” we tried to recite the key lines from the story while walking across and pausing at the top of the bridge.
Next, we tried walking across the bridge like a goat – on all fours! Funny enough, my four year old found this harder to do than the two year olds did.
Both methods of walking across the bridge encourage children to engage their sense of balance, their major muscle groups (abs, arms, and legs), and allow them to practice processing physical feedback. Encouraging children to engage in fun, but important gross motor activities like this prepares them for later physical activities (like sports and dance), while also giving much needed sensory feedback, which is key to healthy brain formation.
What’s your favorite outdoor activity to do with your kids? Tell us about it in the comments below!
More Gross Motor Activities from Study at Home Mama:
More Gross Motor Activity Ideas from B-Inspired Mama:
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This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.
Meet the Author: Jennifer Tammy
Jennifer is a single mom & home daycare provider who shares fun & educational kids' activities, delicious recipes, and parenting inspiration on her blog, Sugar, Spice & Glitter.
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