Active play helps your child develop gross motor skills such as running.

Even at the tender age of 3, 4, or 5, your child needs lots of opportunities for physical activity, both for good health and for skill-building. At this age, kids are busy developing gross motor skills—learning to use the large muscles in their legs, arms, and trunk to run, jump, throw, catch, and kick. They are also working on fine motor skills, although those develop a bit later than gross motor skills. Still, you'll want to provide your preschooler with plenty of time to work all her muscles, big and small. Try these playful physical activities:

Gross Motor Skill Activities for Preschoolers

• Dancing, either freestyle or through songs with movements, such as "I'm a Little Teapot," "The Wheels on the Bus," or "Popcorn": I'm a piece of popcorn, put me in a pan/Shake me, shake me, as fast as you can (child shimmies, shakes, and jumps)/And I ... will ... (child crouches down low) ... POP!" (child jumps as high as he can).


• Walking around the house, neighborhood, or park. For variety, add in marching, jogging, skipping, hopping, or even musical instruments to form a parade. As you walk, count, play games, or tell stories.


• Swimming and other water play.


• Balancing: Have your child walk on a piece of string or tape, a low beam or plank at the playground, or a homemade balance beam.


• Playing pretend: Kids boost gross motor skills when they use their bodies to become waddling ducks, stiff-legged robots, galloping horses, soaring planes—whatever their imagination conceives!


• Riding tricycles, scooters, and other ride-on toys; pulling wagons or pushing large trucks or shopping carts.


• Building and navigating obstacle courses-–indoors with furniture, pillows, boxes, blankets; outdoors with rocks, logs, or playground equipment.


• Throwing, catching, and rolling large, lightweight, soft balls.


• Playing tag or other classic backyard games, such as Follow the Leader, Red Light/Green Light, or Simon Says (avoid or modify games that force kids to sit still or to be eliminated from play, such as Duck Duck Goose or musical chairs).


• Swinging, sliding, and climbing at a playground or indoor play space.

Small Motor Skills Activities for Preschoolers

• Sand play
• Puppet shows
• Sidewalk chalk or any art project
• Finger plays (songs such as "The Itsy Bitsy Spider")
• Cooking: includes pouring, kneading, tearing, cutting with butter knife
• Lacing cards or stringing beads
• Manipulative toys such as blocks and puzzles, or dolls with clothes to take on and off