At around 3 pm every afternoon, we find ourselves just wanting to lie down for a bit.
Today’s at home activity not only requires you and your little ones to lie down—it turns sprawling out on the floor into a fun art exercise designed to sharpen children’s gross and fine motor skills, as well as their observational abilities and creativity!
In this activity, kids trace their own silhouetted shapes with everyday objects, then take a step back to see what they’ve created. It’s a fun, silly way to explore shapes, imagery, and imagination.
So grab some drawing materials, paper, yarn, or other tracing tools, and lie down right on the floor. How often do you get to lie down AND help your kids learn and grow?
Body Tracing
Benefits:
Gross motor skills
Fine motor skills
Body awareness
Connection to others
Develops creativity and imagination
Kids will:
Discover their silhouetted shape by either drawing or getting objects arranged around them or another family member. They will find creative ways to create a life sized “self-portrait.”
What you’ll need:
Floor space
Large paper (No large paper at home? Try string, yarn, or a collection of fun materials such as socks, a jump rope, scarves and toys like Legos and blocks.)
Drawing materials
How to:
First, find some floor space. Take turns laying on the ground; you can make it more fun by posing in fun ways. When you’ve found your pose, have a family member trace your body by either tracing with drawing materials or arranging objects next to your body. When done, carefully stand up and step back to see what shape you created!
If you are an only child or want to extend the fun, you can do the same thing with your toys and other objects around the house—for instance, create a silhouette of your teddy bear! If someone is especially squiggly try singing a song together during the tracing or challenge the person laying down to count to the highest number they can.
For first timers and little ones:
Tracing and keeping the drawing tool or other objects close to the body is sometimes tricky, so no worries if your traced arm looks like a huge pool noodle! Keep practicing!