Shop UK Site 
Working on Gross Motor Skills
- EI Editor Posted On Oct 25, 2012
Although Children’s health month is coming to an end soon, it doesn’t mean that the fun should stop! We highly encourage that you continue to get your kids active and working on those gross motor skills!
What are gross motor skills? Gross motor skills are the abilities required in order to control the large muscles of the body that are used for walking, running, sitting, crawling and other activities.They develop over a relatively short period of time, with most of the development occurring during childhood. Encouraging gross motor skills simply requires a safe, open play space, peers to interact with and some adult supervision.There are a number of activities parents can have children do to help develop gross motor skills. These include:
What are gross motor skills? Gross motor skills are the abilities required in order to control the large muscles of the body that are used for walking, running, sitting, crawling and other activities.They develop over a relatively short period of time, with most of the development occurring during childhood. Encouraging gross motor skills simply requires a safe, open play space, peers to interact with and some adult supervision.There are a number of activities parents can have children do to help develop gross motor skills. These include:- Activities that encourage balancing (jump rope, hop scotch)
- Activities that develop hand-eye or foot-eye coordination (baseball, football, soccer—anything that involves catching, kicking or throwing a ball)
- Hopping with a small object in-between their knees and jumping forwards, backwards and sideways.
Here's another fun fact for you: There are 206 bones in the human body. One fourth of them are in your feet!The muscles in our feet are too often overlooked. Think about all the things you do on your feet. Can you imagine life without them? Take a minute out of your day to appreciate them and all the hard work they go through by treating yourself to a foot massage. Better yet, spend some time bonding with your spouse, your kids, or even a friend and have a foot massaging party! You'll be surprised how much better you'll feel when you start taking care of yourself from the bottom up. 
October is Children’s Health Month and we'll be celebrating all month long with fitness/health related tips, articles and activities for the whole family on our blog and Facebook![Here's a quick tip: If you like us, you'll be entered for a chance to win $500 worth of EI products!]Keep a look out for upcoming posts regarding child health and well-being this month and keep your eyes open for a behind-the-scenes look at our featured product of the month, Magic Moves! If you didn't know, Magic Moves is all about... MOVIN'! It has your kids shakin' it up and workin' it out. What better way to get healthy than to dance it out and have fun with your kids? To kick start the month, here's a fun fact: Did you know that your heart is about the size of your fist and weighs about as much as a softball? Speaking of softball, why not take 30 minutes out of your day to play outside? It's time to get up and start movin'! 
What a way to start the month off! Our featured product of the month, Magic Moves™, just won a 2012 Brilliance Award from Brilliant Sky! How cool is that?According to Brilliant Sky Toys & Books, The Brilliance Awards "recognize products that represent the very ideals that Brilliant Sky Toys & Books was founded upon – the importance of quality, the value of open-ended play, and the simple beauty of a child’s fascination and delight. The products must meet the company’s high standard of offering developmentally sound products for children and must also engage children and encourage the growth of important values, such as self-esteem, patience, tenacity and cultural sensitivity."We are so honored to have received this award. Our team couldn't have done this without you, our fans, in mind. 
It's the first day of fall and our Deal of the Day is the perfect way to celebrate! We are kicking off the fall season by featuring one of our best sellers, the ever popular, Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game!
As part of our “Change it Up” donation program, this past month the EI team rounded up $57 worth of spare change for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This money, along with a $57 matching donation from EI, will help support the largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all, and energize science to find the cures. What’s more, since May 2011 our team has collected over $2,000 for various charities and causes close to our hearts! Way to go team! 
