Paper Plate Ice Skating: Gross Motor Activity

Stuck at home with kids who are bored out of their minds? If you have paper plates at home, you are in luck! Try this paper plate ice skating activity and burn off some energy!

ice skating kid

It has been raining almost nonstop the last few days, and since it never rains here in SoCal, the kids are getting a little cabin fever from staying indoors. Therefore, mommy needs to think of something to get their energy out before they take it out on the house!

Inspired by Disney On Ice (what an amazing show!) and a workout routine I have been doing, we decided to practice “ice-skating” in the house. Don’t worry, there is no ice involved so there is no concern about causing a huge mess. In fact, all you need are some paper plates and you are good to go!

Supplies:

  • Paper plates
  • Music (optional, but highly recommended!)
  • Tape (optional)
Indoor Ice Skating 2

Simply place the paper plates on the floor and get your kids to put their two feet on them. The paper plates stick to their feet a lot better without socks on. However, if your little ones want to keep their socks on, you can always tape their feet to the plates. Show them how they can glide on the floor with the paper plates. Then turn on some rocking music and have an ice-skating dance party!

Let them be creative and see what dance moves they come up with. My kids started spinning in circles, imitating what they saw the princesses did during the Disney On Ice show.

Then they tried to run and glide on one foot and see how far they could go. This one led to tons of laughter and I must admit, I even joined in on the fun! Come on, you can only do stuff like this when you are around your kids… without looking crazy, that is. CARPE DIEM I say!

Indoor Ice Skating 3

When you think about it, skating on paper plates on hardwood floors isn’t the easiest thing in the world. In order to move the plates, it requires strength from the thighs, glutes, back, and abs. Not that our kids are training to be a bodybuilder or anything, but it’s beneficial for them to be using muscles that they may not use in their everyday lives. I have been using the paper plates to do sliding lunges, so my muscles can verify that the paper plates indeed work.

Skating on paper plates also requires balance and coordination. Overall, it’s a simple gross motor skill activity that can help expend some energy in the cold winter months. Definitely need more of these to tire the kids out and keep mommy sane!

Paper Plate Ice Skating Activity

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