Nanna bought Ellie a Hula Hoop (or Woolahoo, as she calls it) for successfully becoming toilet trained and Kahlei got one so that Ellie would be able to play with her new toy without it starting a war. Since being home, they have been sitting in their cupboard until I took them out today and put them in the yard to see if they would play with them.
At first Kahlei played with sand and Ellie tried to hula.
Even though the hoop is way too big, she gave it a good go. Instead of using her hips to spin it around, she would flick it around with her arms. Often, she would get good momentum and quite a few spins out of a flick.
Once she'd decided she'd done her best at that I put the two hoops next to each other on the ground, Ellie thought that was the perfect opportunity to 'skip'.
Kahlei and Paws decided they liked that game and chose to join in. There was lots of jumping, running, summer saulting and giggling as they 'skipped'. Once that got old, Ellie asked me to hold her hoop so she could jump through it, then I had to hold both as the girls went through.
Then, the discovery of the day was made when I rolled one of them away from me. We spent the rest of the time rolling and chasing (okay, so I didn't chase...)
I love that so much came of me getting them out and that it was all child led. I thought they might try them out for a moment before giving up, I didn't imagine we would spend hours playing Hula Hoops.
And the best thing?
It completely wore them both out!
What have you been playing?
9 comments:
Hoops are great fun!
And mommies can get into it too...I am not good at it, but trying. Here is a cool blog that inspires me to keep trying:
http://thehappyhoop.com/
What great photos - you've really captured the spirit of the play. Thanks for stopping by NurtureStore and leaving a comment. I wondered if you might come and join us on Fridays for our Play Academy link-up? Cathy :)
Oh, how we love our hula hoops! We use them for all the traditional things, plus for playing circus (trainer and animals), jumping practice, ball and bean bag targets, follow me walks... So much fun from one small circle (or two) Enjoy
I'm so glad that the girls are enjoying the hoops. You need to take video next time.
@Alex - thanks for the link and I love that I can join in with this game.
@Cathy - I will come and look at your link up and join in, I love that we can get some great ideas from each other with these!
We have a couple of hula hoops at our house, and both Princess and I are hopeless at it. I am longing for my yard to be done so we can go out and play as, as you have pointed out, hoops really are such versatile toys!
So many different ways to play with Hula Hoops! I know a little girl who would love one for her birthday :)
Your blog looks like so much fun!! I had a go with a hoop at Playcentre the other day - the kids just stood there and laughed at me (I can't do it like when I was young!!).
I have had so much fun with hula hoops as a child. Looks like your girls were really enjoying them :)
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