Phys ed fun at HALB

Ask the children at HALB Lev Chana Early Childhood Center to describe their weekly physical education class, and the answer you’ll hear most often is “FUN!”

Little do they realize how much thought and planning Mrs. Tamar Sicklick, Lev Chana’s PE Instructor, put into developing our physical education program. Specifically geared to HALB’s preschool aged children, the activities are aimed at developing body and spatial awareness skills, learning to follow instruction, and allow for opportunities for skill practice, assessment and the chance to fine tune motor skills.

Morah Tamar explains that “games like Simon Says (played without the elimination process) teach children body-part identification. When children stand inside a hoop, or on a carpet square, and you invite them to reach as high, bend as low, and stretch as wide as they can, they begin to understand the realm of their personal space and what they can do within it.

“When you challenge them to jump, first like rabbits and then like kangaroos, they practice the loco motor skill of jumping, while also using their own weight to strengthen muscles. Additionally, they will develop the bodily control necessary for moving both lightly and strongly.” 

Mrs. Sicklick’s goals for our children include helping them develop confidence in their ability to play games like other children, coordination that will enable them to throw a ball, dance or engage in other physical activities, and develop healthy fitness habits.

“Children who feel good about their physical abilities have a better overall view of them and are less likely to become sedentary later in life.”