As kids, we used to hop from couch to couch and make a flying leap across the living room to the corner chair. We would hop from one surface to another with one thing on our minds…
The living room floor had turned into boiling hot lava!
When my kids started hopping around from pillow to pillow and landing with a roll onto the couch with claims of the floor turning to lava, I had to smile.
What is so cool about the floor being lava (besides the nostalgic sentiments from parents?) A great game of The Floor is Lava has some major motor movements and sensory play components!
From jumping, leaping, hopping, rolling, and crashing, The Floor is Lava is a fun and creative way to encourage movement and sensory motor play, both indoors and out!
The Floor is Lava Games
Here are some fun ways to use The Floor is Lava Games to promote sensory input and motor movements:
- Place pillows and couch cushions on the floor. Kids can hop from pillow to pillow on one foot or two. Move the pillows further and further apart to promote movement coordination and motor planning. Don’t touch the carpet, it’s lava!
- Place paper plates in a line on the floor. Use them as a balance beam to address vestibular sensory input. Hop from plate to plate without touching the ground, it’s burning up!
- Play a stop and go game that promotes auditory processing skills like auditory figure-ground discrimination. Call out, “The floor is lava!” and everyone has to hop off the ground onto something besides the hot, hot ground!
- Use boxes like milk crates, stools, or dining room chairs to add height components to The Floor is Lava game.
- Add a learning component by asking kids questions when they land on a safe space. Think about incorporating spelling words, math facts, or memorization facts.
- Play The Floor is Lava at the playground to add vestibular sensory components to the game. Don’t touch the ground, it’s hot! Read more about the sensory benefits of the playground.
- Make a Safe Island when playing a lava game. Use a hula hoop and all kids can hop in the hoop to stay safe from that burning hot lava. Don’t hop out of the other side of the hoop to stay safe and to work on motor control.
Develop Skills While Playing The Floor is Lava
When playing these lava games, kids are developing and building so many skills!
- Gross motor coordination
- Core strength
- Eye-body coordination
- Visual motor skills
- Motor planning
- Balance
- Attention
- Vestibular sensory tolerance
- Proprioceptive sensory tolerance
- Impulse control
Do your kids play The Floor is Lava? Did you play as a child? Introduce your kids to some of these versions of the lava game and boost movement and development skills at the same time!
