It’s “Time” to get Fit!

Telling time is one of the many concepts that young children eventually need to learn. With so many devices on the market, learning to use them can get confusing and quite overwhelming.

Historically, many ancient civilizations watched astronomical bodies to determine the time as they moved continuously across the sky. As years went on, devices and methods for keeping time have improved through a long series of new inventions and ideas.

Today we still use traditional or analog clocks with a clock face, markings from 1 to 12, and moving hands. Digital clocks display a numeric representation of time.

Below is an activity to help children learn both analog and digital clocks and how they work. Also included are some fun fitness activities to help the children stay fit in the process.

Items Needed:

1. Bubble wrap
2. a long rope
3. a balloon
4. A stool
5. print out the following times on a piece of
   pap er: 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 6:00 PM and
   9:00 PM.

How to set up the area:

1. Find a large area inside or outside your
   home.
2. Set up the 12:00 PM time at one end of the room and 6:00 PM at the opposite end.
3. Place the 3:00 PM to the far right side of the room and 9:00 PM to the far left side.

4.Refer to the diagram below.

5.Place the bubble wrap at 12:00
6.Place the long rope at 3:00
7.Place the blown-up balloon at 6:00
8.Place the stool at 9:00

Description of the Activity:

The times of the clock indicate the exercise stations. The participant starts at one of the stations (12:00) and performs the activity for a preferred amount of time (ex., 2 minutes). After the two-minute time is up, he/she moves clockwise to the next time or station and continues to perform the next exercise. Reinforce the time at the station.

12:00 PM

Running on Bubble Wrap

❖ Lay the bubble wrap on a carpeted surface.

❖ Start at one end and jog across the bubble wrap

❖ Run back to the beginning and repeat until the timer goes off

❖ You may include other forms of movement: jumping, stomping, crawling

“Tick Tock, Tick Tock, It’s Time To Change The Clock.”

Go to the next time/station

3:00 PM

Pancake Flips Over a Long Rope

❖ Lay the rope straight across the floor.

❖ Make a bridge with your body over one end of the rope.

❖ Move sideways across the rope switching from the bridge position and flipping over into a crab position.

❖ Continue moving in this pattern until you reach the end of the rope.

❖Run back to where you began the activity and repeat until the timer goes off.

“Tick Tock, Tick Tock, It’s Time To Change The Clock.”

Go to the next time/station

6:00 PM

Jump and Catch the Balloon

❖ Each participant receives a blown-up balloon (I like to use a 12-inch balloon)

❖ Toss the balloon up into the air

❖ Jump and catch it while your feet are off the floor

❖ Repeat this activity until the timer goes off.

“Tick Tock, Tick Tock, It’s Time To Change The Clock.”

Go to the next time/station

9:00 PM

Jump Side to Side Over a Stool

❖ Start on one side of the stool.

❖ Place both hands on top of the stool.

❖ Jump over to the other side and jump back, keeping feet together.

❖ Continue this movement until the timer goes off.

Variations:

❖ Several people can participate in this activity by dividing the group and having each group start at a station.

❖ Add more times and exercise stations to the clock

❖ Make the activities challenging to the group

❖ Include the second hand to each of the times indicated to help further practice how to tell time.

Adaptations:

If you use a mobility device

❖ 12:00 – Wheel your chair across the bubble wrap OR pop the bubble wrap with your walking device as you walk across it.

❖ 3:00 – Pick up the rope and play tug-o-war with a family member.

❖ 6:00 – Toss and catch the balloon from your wheelchair or while sitting in a chair.

❖ 9:00 – Lift the stool overhead from one side of the chair and place it on the other side. Repeat going the other way. You may want to use weights instead; a 2-5 lb hand weight.

More Fitness Fun

• Let’s Go Fitness Co-founded by father and son with (Prader-Willi)
• Life as We Grow It: Fitness as a Life Skill for Special Needs Populations
• The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Fitness Programs
• The Family Factor of Five: Making Time for Fitness (and Actually Doing It)
• Fitness Equipment Worth Buying
• How Do You Get Your Kids Active?
• The Power of Play

This post originally appeared on our March/April 2023 Magazine