comments:
I'm in Canada. We set aside a part of the room for the kids to move in. One of their favourites is using the little 12-18" hockey sticks to play hockey. This only needs a narrow but long area. One of our ISP workers teaches them yoga as well. If you look into it there are quite few poses that are quite physically challenging and tiring. Another thing I've seen is setting aside a carpet for hacky sack. This is really a challenging activity for the school agers. We also push 2 tables together and put a net across the middle to play ping pong. One thing I have found with the boys who need to move and run around is that they are bored. Get them a bunch of big cardboard boxes, some rolls of packing tape and something to cut the cardboard. I also giver them metal split pins to allow them to attach things an have them pivot. Here are some options for cutting cardboard. https://www.tengtools.com/en-gb/products/hacksaw-blade-holder-24tpi-metal https://www.amazon.ca/Hanpex-Mini-Hacksaw-Frame-Bi-Metal/dp/B0CJ2K5Q31 https://asia.stanleytools.global/product/0-20-807/stanley-mini-hacksaw I got a set of these for my kinders and the school agers also use them a bunch. As much as I recommend not spending your own money I bought these on my own and they were a good buy. https://www.make.do/ https://i.imgur.com/jgwrdP9.jpg Another thing I have is a big toolbox and some wood. I teach them one by one how to use all the different tools starting when they are little preschoolers. The kids make little cars, elastic shooters, robots, planes, boats, houses, hockey sticks, bird feeders and more. Right now they are making a town and a farm, I've added a fire truck, windmill, grain elevator, chicken coop and tractor. Some kids will just want to saw planks or branches and hammer nails without even building things. https://i.imgur.com/7D6IfBR.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ecPwkjZ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iz2GNFb.jpg https://i.imgur.com/5oX9iQ1.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xC98JSS.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nOL4Zpn.jpg https://i.imgur.com/OIGKbpa.jpg Another thing we do with the tools is fix things around the centre, relevel tables, tighten up shelves and so on. We also take apart appliances to see how they work. Old microwaves, fans, telephones, clocks, Keurig coffee machines, toasters, keyboards and all kinds of broken things. It's a good problem solving, observation, fine motor skills, cause and effect and hand eye coordination activity. Plus it teaches the kids basic tool use, how to fix things or take them apart and repurpose the parts instead of simply throwing things away. If they are interested, occupied and engaged all of a sudden their need to run around and scream declines markedly. Another thing to do is set up new dramatic play areas and change them around every couple of weeks.