Challenges are a very useful educational tool as they enhance creativity and test the skills of the little ones at home. Whether they are language, culinary or craft challenges, they are a very effective strategy to spend a fun time with the family while promoting some of the cognitive functions of children and stimulating their emotional development.
Sports challenges are also an excellent resource to enhance children’s coordination and balance, while they can improve motor skills. Its integration into children’s routine is an excellent way to encourage them to engage in physical activity while developing body and space awareness. In the Children’s Stage we propose some very fun challenges for the little ones that you can do together as a family.
10 challenges to propose to children at home
1. Hop on one leg with each leg
This challenge consists of jumping on one leg while holding the other with your hands to avoid resting it on the ground. It is first done with one leg and then the other. It is a very useful exercise to stimulate balance and body and space awareness in children. And, to add an even more fun touch, you can set a specific number of jumps, for example 10, or in another version, compete to see who can last the longest. The kids will have a blast!
2. Turning and walking in a straight line
The exercise consists of turning on the spot, either propelled by another person or by oneself, stopping short and immediately then follow a straight line previously marked on the ground. It is a very simple way to reinforce balance and coordination while having a lot of fun competing to see who can do it better. To make it more entertaining, ideally several family members participate.
3. Taste dishes
There is no better exercise to stimulate the palate of the little ones at home than to place a handkerchief over their eyes and give them a taste of different dishes so that they can guess what it is all about. > However, it is important to involve children from the beginning, either by asking their opinion on which foods to test or even adding them to the preparation of some dishes. An alternative to this challenge is to do different rounds in which each member of the house has to guess a dish. The one who doesn’t get it right loses.
4 . Cook a dish
This challenge is an excellent opportunity to motivate children to cook at home. It is about finding together a recipe that you all like and getting down to work to prepare it. If you prefer, you can also invent a new recipe with ingredients that you have on hand. The idea is that the little ones play an active role and take charge of various tasks, such as mixing the ingredients or decorating the dish at the end. , which will stimulate their creativity and develop their motor skills.
5. Make origami
There is no better way to have a fun time at home with the children than doing crafts. On this occasion, the challenge is to make origami figures to see who can make the prettiest or the most faithful to the original. You can find many origami videos on the Internet so that each of you can make a different figure. Although if you prefer you can also compete making the same figure to see who has the best fit. It is an excellent exercise to stimulate children’s hand-eye coordination and enhance their fine motor skills.
6. Drawing
Most children love to draw and it is also a perfect activity to stimulate their fine motor skills, test their creativity and help them express their emotions. On this occasion, the challenge is to make a nice drawing together, in which each member of the family contributes details that enrich the picture. Keep in mind that you must first choose the theme of the drawing and then , let your imagination run wild.
7. Create a story
Another way to have an entertaining time at home and, at the same time, stimulate the development of children’s thinking and creativity, is to create a family story. The The idea is that each participant contributes content to the story until you have completed it. To do this, you can complete the story in turns, so that each one contributes their grain of sand. Kids will love it!
8. Inventing a musical instrument
Music is not only fun, but also has many advantages for children’s cognitive, physical and emotional development. Therefore, a good way to pass the time at home is to create a musical instrument so that the children can play it later. There are many ideas, from maracas with bottles filled with vegetables and drums with glasses to guitars with thin strings stretched on a wood. On the Internet you can look for some simple ideas that you can do with resources you have at home to later enjoy a real musical show.
9. Saying tongue twisters
Tongue twisters are an ideal exercise to encourage the development of thought and language in the smallest of the house in a simple and fun way. One way to take advantage of these advantages is with this challenge, which consists of each member of the family repeating a tongue twister. The one who says it the clearest and fastest wins. To give the game a more competitive touch, you can start with simple tongue twisters and then increase the complexity.
10. What would you be if you were…?
This challenge consists of asking each member of the family what they would be if they were an animal, food, planet, country or any other category you can think of. It is a perfect activity to train children’s vocabulary and help them get to know each other better. If you want to add some complexity you can try playing in another language to review the vocabulary you already know and teach them new words.