SLC S21W2/ Physical Activities for Child Development

bossj23 (76)Verified friend☆🇳🇬in Shine with Steem • 3 days ago (edited)

It was another weekend with kids. Today is a memorable day in my life as the crypto market is doing justice. So with the happiness in me, I decided to spread and share the love with children in my locality by dancing with them and also keeping them active.

Due to the inability to give these children enough care in terms of clothing and food by their parents, I thought of making them see there's a need to be happy even though they don't have enough. I also promised to take them out for shopping. If you see their dressing, you'll be surprised because it's only their mother that cares for them.

This is what they wore as if they were homeless people. I thought of making them feel that even though they don't have what other people have, they can still be very happy, managing what they have at the moment. So it was a dance day, a day to make children smile......

What type of physical activity did you select, what is it about?

The physical activity I did was Dance. This is an entertaining activity that keeps the body and mind at a happy pace. I can remember when I was little. I do dance for money whenever I visit my aunt's place. They'll just look for one night to entertain us with hit jams that'll make us very happy that day. They'll reward the best dancer, which is always me, with money and snacks like Pop corn and ice-cream.

So I decided to be intentional with the children in my neighborhood. I called four of them to order since they were just playing with themselves. There's something unique about an adult playing with small children. They'll never forget such moments in their lives. This activity will really help build their mind and body.

I called them to stand on the stage I created and then brought out a music box to connect music for them to dance and shake their bodies. I feel this was the best thing they've wanted to do. At first, they were reluctant, but when I attached a reward, they were motivated and were even more competitive with themselves. I told them anyone that danced well would get a reward from me.

I brought drinks and biscuits for them as reward for dancing well. Anyone who refuses to dance won't get the reward. You needed to see how active these people were. The video below shows me teaching them some moves since they were out of moves.

See how happy these children were to see they were doing something; it made them happy and active. Passersby even came to watch them dance. I taught them moves like;

Leg moves
Shaking your butt
Hands movement, etc.

We danced songs from the evening hours till it got dark. These children were not tired at all. It was the best evening's I've ever had this year playing with children. After the dance, I rewarded them with drinks and biscuits as promised.

What changes did you observe in the children during and after the activity? Do you think they used up all their energy?

The changes I observed in these children were their activeness and happiness. I've never seen them this happy before. They had quality time dancing to the tunes I played, and this made them have a wonderful weekend against tomorrow, which would be a new day to resume school.

During the activity, they were reluctant at first because probably they didn't know much moves other than just shaking their bum bum. When I showed them demo and took the initiative to dance first, they followed suit and danced in a way that's appealing.

Their mood changed from being reluctant to very happy people. They continued dancing even when their parents told them to stop dancing. They were just happy at the end of the activity. They told me how they felt after winning the challenge of dancing. They felt like winners and were very happy to show that they really benefitted from the activity.

They didn't use up all their energy. From the videos, you'll see that even after they won, they were still dancing with so much pleasure and not tired as I expected them to be. They were even more energised, as if they just finished doing exercise to strengthen their bodies.

Words couldn't just express how these children felt. I felt so happy being with them. I thought to myself, it's not all about making money. Try recreating with people around you and make someone smile. I made people smile, not just someone. The joy of using their time to make my evening and these children's evening made me feel I used my time for the better.

Do you think that, in addition to exercising, the children had fun?

Yes, this is explained at the onset. It's better pronounced in the video than just written words. Apart from exercising their bodies, which they did through the dance, they had fun time with themselves as well as me as their mentor. They danced to every song played at this boy among three girls who just nailed it.

Just see how he twerked more than the girls. Seeing this, the girls would cheer him and do even better than he did. The dance was an amazing evening exercise for them. It didn't involve much stress of running and jumping. You just had to shake your body, legs, and hands.

This improves the leg muscles, back, chest, and whole body. Their body was entertained aside from the exercise done. So these are the ways I made these children have fun other than just feeling the benefits the exercise brought.

Tell us about your experiences doing this physical activity.

To be honest, I felt like I would be doing this every Sunday. I don't even know what motivated me to do this, but I must say that it really helped me get over some stress and thoughts. I had the best of time, and these children complied, making it even more fun than I thought. I just thought of trying something new in my environment to break the air and make someone smile.

I end up making the whole environment lively. People thought I was throwing a birthday party. They didn't know I was recreating with children. This day won't be easily forgotten by me because of the whole evening experience. I want to thank the host of this contest for bringing up such an initiative to put smiles on children's faces.

They need motivation, love, and encouragement. When parents play with their children or organise game activities with them, they become actively involved in the child's upbringing, which is essential for their mental health.

The target of this physical activity: Since there was no specification as to whether it should be in exercise form or entertainment, i choose entertainment to create a physical activity anong these children. This dance physical activity helped the children in the following