Movement games are a good opportunity to talk with your child about playing safely and why parents make rules about safety. Children don't need complicated reasons. It can be enough to say, "I don't want you to get hurt."

Materials:

• Seven or eight crescent-shaped "moons" cut from paper plates
• Tape

Directions:

Read aloud the rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle"

"Hey Diddle Diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such a sport,
And the dish ran away with spoon."

Then invite your child to do some jumping. Tape a paper-plate moon to the floor, and let your child practice jumping over the moon. When this becomes easy, tape another moon to the floor, about twelve inches from the first one. Have your child jump over the moons in succession. Add more moons if your child wants to continue.

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