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Some of those articles I think are written with the idea that if the adult has to be involved too that the child is really doing something active as compared to just playing. But anyone who sees my gang play will see very busy kids. If anything I have to slow them down and give them an extra drink to offset the business. They aren't wild just busy - well a little more wild than I would like but most are boys. Too often structured means take them to gymboree or enrol them in dance or some other formal setting rather than just teach your child to jump from tile to tile in the kitchen which is sufficient for a toddler.
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Playfelt, you said in another thread you have all boys right? No wonder your crew is busy, busy! Although I have a 3 year old girl in my daycare that none of the boys can catch, she's so athletic and fast. But I agree with you, parents may need to sign children up for structured activities, but for us, the daily routines are good enough. I know that one of my daycare parents always ask me how I can get their son to nap because he absolutely will not nap at home. I have been saying for 3 years that routine and a lot of morning activity does the trick.
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Lots of good discussion here! I feel better now because I definitely get the kids out and doing active stuff every day...it was the "structured" part I wasn't sure about. I may try to do more structured physical activities now though until we are outside all the time in the summer.
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I would interpret structure to mean planned as in for a portion of the day things are set up in such a way that for sure the child is being active be it a game, a walk around the block, dancing to a video or whatever rather than just assuming because music was playing that they were active dancing.
Also since we deal with such a small number of kids we know which ones are active and which ones aren't and can plan accordingly as compared to as someone mentioned assuming the kids out for recess are getting more than just fresh air when they are still being sedentary instead.
