Helpful Tips for Parents

• Competitive sports are generally not appropriate before age 6–7. Preschoolers benefit most from cooperative physical games where everyone succeeds.

• Dance is one of the most complete physical activities for preschoolers: it develops bilateral coordination, rhythm, balance, spatial awareness, and emotional expression simultaneously.

• Screen time displaces physical activity. Every hour in front of a screen is an hour not spent in physical development. Enforce daily outdoor time before screen access.

• Rest is part of fitness. Adequate nighttime sleep (10–13 hours for preschoolers) is required for physical development, muscle growth, and the energy to be active the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is yoga appropriate for preschoolers?

Preschool yoga is not only appropriate but genuinely beneficial — it develops balance, strength, flexibility, and body awareness. More importantly, it teaches preschoolers the foundational self-regulation skills of breath awareness and still-body practice. Children's yoga programs (Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube is a popular free resource) frame poses as animals and characters, making the practice engaging. 10–15 minutes of child-appropriate yoga is appropriate daily from age 3.

My preschooler doesn't like getting dirty or sweaty. How do I encourage physical activity?

Some children have sensory sensitivities that make physical activity uncomfortable — this is worth exploring with an occupational therapist if it significantly limits the child's participation in physical activities. For most children, physical preferences develop through positive experience. Start with physical activities that don't feel "gross": dance, gymnastics, swimming, climbing. Avoid forced exposure to disliked activities — positive movement experiences are the goal, not specific activities.

Related reading: See also our swimming and water safety guide and our indoor gross motor activities for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🧠 Brain-Body Connection — Research consistently shows that physical activity directly improves concentration, working memory, and academic readiness — making fitness time one of the highest-return educational investments in a preschooler's day.
• 🌱 Lifelong Active Habits — Children who have joyful physical experiences in the preschool years are dramatically more likely to be active adolescents and adults — making every positive movement experience an investment in lifelong health.
• 🏃 Gross Motor Skills — Running, jumping, hopping, and climbing build the large muscle strength, coordination, and body control that physical activities, sports, and even handwriting readiness depend on.
• 🧭 Spatial Awareness — Moving through and around obstacles, understanding where their body is in space, and following directional instructions develops the spatial body awareness that sports, dance, and coordinated movement require.

Preschool Horse Race Game

Preschoolers at the starting gate it's time for a preschool horse race game! An imaginative horse race, whether inside or out, is certain to get your little one's feet moving!

Pony Time

If you have a stick pony in your preschooler's toy collection, time to brush his mane and get him into the race! If you don't own one, there are a number of affordable choices, or you can improvise with your own homemade pony. This is where toy brooms or mops come in handy. While grown up sized brooms and mops may also work, it's best if you have one with an adjustable handle that can be sized appropriately for your preschooler. Of course, children can certainly use their imaginations in the preschool horse race game, riding their own make-believe horse.

How to Set up the Preschool Horse Race Game

Set up is minimal, so it's really a breeze to get ready for this game. Just determine where your horse "track" is going to be - whether it be outside or a path from down the hall and around the dining room table. Short on space? No worries - if you have a long hallway, preschoolers enjoy a straight track too!

A Day at the Races

Once your preschooler is in the starting area, it's ready, set, go and the race begins. The preschool horse race game can be adapted to allow your child to practice different coordination skills. For example, they can run to the finish, gallop, trot, or just practice a slow clip-clop to the end.

Horsey Props and Rewards

Horsing around is fun! Your preschooler will love to dress the part with either a cowboy hat or a riding hat (try a bicycle helmet!). Gloves, boots and other accessories also make the race more fun. Racing to the finish of the preschool horse race game deserves a prize, so consider making blue ribbons in advance of the race or a paper chain that can be formed into a wreath and worn in the winner's circle.

I'm Wendy Michaels , the Preschool Fitness writer for PreschoolRock.com. With an active preschooler of my own, I know how easy it is to include exercise and healthy habits into a preschooler's daily activities. I'd love to hear your ideas for promoting fitness with your own preschooler. Please contact me with any suggestions, ideas or questions.

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