Start with the idea that for your body every action has an opposite action. No muscle operates in isolation but requires an opposite action to make it work and celebrate this with your child.

10 Star-Jump to Small-Ball

5 Feeling the Waves

3 Balance and Hop

1 minute Minister of Funny Walks

1 minute Creative Dance Off

Star-Jump to Small-Ball

• Start crouched as a small ball on the floor. Then jump high into the air stretching your arms and legs wide (in a star form). 
• When you land, engage all muscles in a “star” shape and hold your breath for 10 seconds. Collapse back to the ball on an exhale then repeat.

Feeling the Waves

• Tell your child, and yourself, to imagine a wave and how it flows in and out.
• From standing, imagine a wave coming in and bend at the waist, and knees to a “chair” position and bring chest to thighs and sweep hand back. When hands reach back, sweep hands up while standing then into a slight back bend.

Balance and Hop

• Hold both your child’s hands in a standing position. Encourage them to mirror your movements. 
• Start by standing on one foot and balance for 3 seconds. Put your second foot down so you are standing at twice shoulder width for 3 seconds. Shift weight to the other foot, back to two feet. 
• When back to two feet, jump and bring feet together and apart-like a jumping jack without the arms (because you are holding your child’s hands) do 5 jumps. 
• Now shift to one foot and hop 3 times. Then balance on the other foot and jump 3 times. 

Minister of Funny Walks

• Walk with “tippy toes” and walk for a few steps; then walk on your heels; then try the outsides of your feet; then the insides. 
• When you have taken a bunch of steps on the various parts of your feet, play around with different combinations, remembering to let your child lead the movements. 
• Next try to take the biggest steps possible, then the smallest steps possible. 

Creative Dance Off

• Put on some music. Ask them to move the way the music sounds and then follow along with what they are doing. This is an important point to allow them to make up the movements and “be in charge” for a bit. 
• Once they have established their own movements that you follow, declare it is your turn and move how the music makes you feel while your child follows along. Switch back and forth through a few different songs.
• Your aim is to make sure they are exploring things they did not think of; if you see they do a lot of jumping maybe try some balancing or crawling, so their feet stay planted. If they are standing in one place and swaying maybe encourage them to run in circles or pretend to be an animal and see how that feels.