If you have kids like mine, especially boys, I quickly found out that I couldn't even mention the words "super heroes" or "Star Wars" without them going crazy. When my son was young and I needed him to focus on homework or on completing a certain task, I would completely avoid saying anything about Spiderman, Batman or Ninja Turtles (we even had to hide his figurines) because instantly he would be bouncing and hopping everywhere around our house with his plastic sword fighting off all the bad guys. And the garbage I asked him to take out? Or the math homework we were trying to finish? Forget it, I had already lost him the moment I mentioned one of the super heroes' names.

However, I did try every possible way to tie learning and homework to his super hero action figures because it seemed to engage him and helped him focus more on the subjects he was learning in school. At the time, I didn't realize I was already on the right track. As I began working more and more with kids who had learning challenges, I couldn't believe the difference physical movement and physical literacy made to their learning ability in the classroom. Surprisingly enough, climbing like Spiderman was one of the answers I had been looking for to help more kids reach their potential.

Now we do all sorts of fun animal exercises and super hero exercises (or yoga) with our kids to improve their balance and coordination skills for higher learning. Yoga for kids is becoming more and more popular because of the wonderful brain building benefits that come with developing a child's gross motor skills that help with attention and focus. It's amazing how it all ties together to helping kids sit still in class, process what the teacher says, focus on a test or story, and can even organize the brain for problem solving.

But, before we talk about some of the fun animal exercise to try at home, let's talk about why these exercises are important and how it will make a difference when your child is in school.

Πηγή: Integrated Learning Activities