We hope you have been having as much fun as we have, welcoming your preschoolers for the new school year. The Elastablast has been a fun non-threatening way for our young children to begin to work cooperatively together as we sing Raffi’s The More We Get Together and learn each other’s names. We have also been using Raffi’s Wheels on the Bus to teach our new preschoolers the actions we like to use with the Elastablast. You can watch our attached YouTube video to see those actions. We pair the actions with a visual e.g. wheels, wiper,horn, window,driver, placing one visual behind each child’s back. At their turn, they show the visual to their friends and then together we do each action, working on core strength, body awareness, upper body strengthening, sensory processing and so much more.
Research continues to emphasize the importance of optimizing early brain and motor development through movement in young children and the Elastablast is such a motivating way to work on critically important foundation senses. Movement stimulates the senses which build critical connections in the brain. Children with touch/tactile issues are drawn to the soft,cuddly fleece covered band, wrapping their hands around it with their thumbs under, developing the rounding and arching they need for hand development.
Using the rebound qualities of the band to pull back and sit up activates the vestibular system and works on that important internal sense of balance. Body awareness is developed with all the great feedback to muscles and joints with each and every movement of the band.
So much sensory learning happening, in addition to working on social interaction, language and cognitive skills. We can all work together to meet early childhood standards, but we must do it with movement as that is how young bodies are wired…the body teaches the brain! Have a great school year and check back next month for more ideas for your Elastablast. To order a band or for more ideas about using the Elastablast, go to our website at: https://letsplaytogether.org and learn more about our handbook entitled Let’s Play with the ElastaBlast: Facilitating Preschool Friendships for Children of ALL Abilities . Have fun and tell your preschool teachers to like us on facebook.