Ideas for the playground at home

We've put together a few ideas for play and exercise at home - all while getting some school work done and strengthening your learning in a fun way.

Play and practice with your sister, brother or parents!

Exercise and physical movement are great for our brains. Taking a few power breaks of just 5-10 minutes gives you energy and a fresh perspective on your schoolwork.
Moving your body in all sorts of ways helps you practise basic motor skills. Basic motor skills are important for learning and, for example, reading readiness. And mum and dad could probably do with some fresh air too.

Motor training develops our basic senses, which are important for optimal learning.
The three senses are:
Vestibular (labyrinthine or sense of balance)
Tactile sense (sense of touch)
Kinesthetic sense (muscle and joint)

Make your maths teacher happy:
Practise the times tables when you jump or skip on the trampoline, then they’re more fun to learn.
Or challenge each other in maths while throwing a ball back and forth. One of you has to come up with a sum and throw the ball to the person who has to work it out.

Practice your balance while practising Danish or English:
Create a balance track from pieces of wood, leaves (if it's not too windy) or other things you can stand on. Play 'I spy' while you do it. Or make some pretty hopscotch stones and practice the alphabet, times tables, animal names, cities, while hopping on one leg - for example in Danish, English, German or French.

Create a 'rabbit trail' or obstacle course where you either have to jump, crawl over or go under something. Or practise limbo dancing in the living room, bending backwards under a stick without touching the ground - to some good music.
The obstacle course trains your agility, balance and cross-coordination of your arms and legs. It gets the two halves of the brain talking to each other, boosting learning and reading readiness.

Create a forward-roll track or be a spinning top. When you spin around on the spot or do forward or backward rolls, you also train your sense of balance.
The sense of balance, or the vestibular sense, trains your ability to focus your eyes and concentrate on a task.

Elverdal creates playgrounds that combine play and learning.