Rough & Tumble Play

Rough& TumblePlay

By David Hawkins

One of the easiest ways to give your kids a head start in life is simply to play with them. Luckily, that’s what dads do best! Rough & tumble play has been shown to help children manage their emotions, display fewer negative behaviours, and to become more popular with their friends.

Let’s take a look at another simple and super fun game that you might like to try out with your kids.

ARM TO ARM

The best part of summer is getting down to the beaches that carve out the coastline of our amazing peninsula. Swimming, sunbathing, sand-castling. Actually, the sand is a great place to get your ‘dad’ on and have some super summer fun with your kids. And this play idea works really well with your older kids. Arm to Arm is a game of balance, strength, and strategy. To play this game, Dad and child stand on one leg in front of each other, then grab the other’s arms. The aim is to be the last one standing. There are different strategies to use in Arm to Arm. You can try pulling your opponent over by using your strength. You can attempt to push the challenger over by leaning your weight against them. You could work toward unbalancing your opposition by wiggling, wobbling, and rocking from side to side. Having all of these different approaches means that this game can be scaled to work with different ages of children. For young kids, make it silly and fun with lots of wobbling, letting them tumble you over when they replicate this. With your primary aged children, a mixture of silly movements and leaning your weight onto them will give them a fun challenge. And with your high school aged kids, it becomes a battle of strength and a chance to feel like they can finally defeat their father. For real. I love this game. And my boys do too. Arm to Arm has a brilliant mix of challenge and silliness, switching between my children focusing on trying to use their strength to knock me down and then giggling incessantly as they aim to shake me off my foot.

Step 1: Take turns at winning.

The most important part of rough & tumble play is giving your children a chance to feel what it is like to topple a giant. Make sure that they win just as much as you do.

Step 2: Keep it fun.

Even when you are challenging your older kids, it is important to focus on the fun aspect of play rather than the competition. If it gets a little serious, start wiggling or tickling them. Let laughter take over and perhaps you’ll end in a tie.

Step 3: Think strategy.

Arm to Arm is the perfect game to help your children learn to find different solutions to a problem. Prompt the kids to mix up their approach and see if they can find your weakness.

Step 4: Praise them!

Every playtime is an opportunity to make your children feel good about themselves. We don’t always remember to let our kids know that we think they are amazing. Tell them that they did a great job when they win and when they lose. Point out when they choose a good strategy. Tell them that you love them. Rough & tumble play doesn’t have to be a BIG event all of the time. In fact, research shows that children benefit from little bits of play, on a regular basis. Take advantage of this summer weather and head down to the beach with your children for some Arm to Arm fun in the sand.

David Hawkins is a Peninsula-based stay-at-home-dad who realised that he needed to improve his Dadding. So he set himself the simple task of being an Awesome Dad. He now challenges all dads to be awesome dads, by doing something out-of-the ordinary with their kids.