Have some fun moving your body and building upon your child’s coordination and rhythmicality with this dance activity inspired by Hungry Bunny. Show your child the illustrated instructions and have him or her lead the prep work. While you’re dancing, encourage your child to move an arm across his or her midline; doing this promotes the coordination and communication of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This also helps with the development of fine-motor skills. Also work on moving an arm up high and down low. Take turns showing off dance moves and repeating each other’s movements, creating movement patterns, and keeping time with the beat.
Here are the four steps illustrated above:
-
Find a scarf (preferably a child-sized scarf that’s shorter in length thought any scarf will do)
-
Play your favorite music
-
Dance while waving the scarf up high
-
Dance while waving the scarf down low
Here are some book-based talking points:
-
What was your favorite part of the book? Why?
-
What clothing was bunny wearing to stay warm?
-
What was your favorite way to use the red scarf?
-
Have you ever had a hard time reaching something that was high up or far away? How did you solve it?
-
Is it easier to go uphill or downhill? Why?
-
There’s an expression in the book — something people say — that says “uphill battle.” Let’s talk about that…
-
Is there something we do or someplace we go that can sometimes feel like an uphill battle?
-
(If yes) What do you think might make it easier?
-
Do you think mom was thankful to the bunny for bringing the apples? What do you think she said to the bunny for all his hard work?
-
Is there anything in this book that you didn’t understand?
-
Is there anything in this book that you’d like to talk about?
