Aside from crafting, I love creating printables for the purpose of education and homeschooling, or all-around learning!
With the rainy weather hitting the Pacific Northwest here, I've decided to create an indoor exercise routine for my energetic toddler. She's very much an animal-lover, so I paired each movement with an animal association.
Download the free printable
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There are a variety of movement types, with animals including:
- Frog
- Bear
- Elephant
- Crab
- Cheetah
- Starfish
- Gorilla
How to make it
Once you have your printable downloaded by signing up for my newsletter, just follow the steps below!
- Print the document out in color on cardstock paper.
- Laminate each sheet (4 pages).
- Cut each card out.
- Lastly, I also recommend using a corner rounder to smooth out those sharp, pointy edges of each card.
A little about HIIT
High-intensity interval training is a training protocol alternating short periods of intense anaerobic exercise with shorter recovery periods.
In this animal workout of 7 different animal movements, the goal is to perform a movement for 45 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of rest.
Purpose
This animal-themed workout can be used for a number of different functions!
Physical exercise
Firstly, it provides a means for physical exercise without needing any gym equipment or fancy materials. These moves will help your child's heart rate go up and is a great form of cardio.
Fun, no-prep indoor activity
If your child is bored and wants something to do, why not bust out this activity? There's no prep needed, as it's a no-equipment body workout! The funny animal associations can allow them to use their imaginations and play pretend while getting a workout in.
Attention and focus
These exercises may also help with attention and focus. Classroom teachers or homeschool parents can use these to incorporate movement breaks in-between longer lessons or table activities. This can reset the mind and body, and help a student return to a "ready to learn" mindset!
Self regulation
If your child could use some coping or self regulation strategies, this can be a good tool to try out. This may happen when they are feeling socially or emotionally overwhelmed, and need a healthy and appropriate way to release their emotions. Exercise is a great coping strategy to use when learning to manage big feelings. You may present your child with two animal cards to choose from, or ask them to select their favorite one from the deck to implement.
Before I wrap up this post, I'd also like to share my Crochet Therapy Toys Free Pattern Roundup. For those of you who crochet and want to make a little fidget toy or worry doll to help with anxiety or depression, these can work as useful coping tools! I've had many parents or caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder tell me how helpful these have been as an addition to their coping strategy toolkits for emotional regulation. Feel free to check out the roundup post for additional therapy tips, too!
I hope this article is helpful! Happy exercising!
All the best,
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