DOUBLE TAB TO ZOOM ON PHONE OR TABLET Exploring Up and Down Ask the children whether they know what up and down mean, and to show you with their bodies. Then pose the following questions and movement challenges: • Can you make your body go all the way down? Can you go all the way up? • How high up can you get? • Go down halfway. What does that mean to you? • Make yourself so tiny I can hardly see you. • Make yourself as huge as a giant. Extending the Activity: Play a game of Blast Off. Ask your toddlers to squat down, pretending to be rockets on launching pads. You then count down from ten (with as much drama as possible!), and at the signal to “blast off,” the children spring up and “into the air.” Your toddlers will love this, so you should expect to have to repeat it at least a few times! You can also use imagery to explore the concepts of up and down. Talk about the fol- lowing, and then ask your toddlers to show you these objects: • a piece of bread going in and then popping out of the toaster • a yo-yo on a string • a jack-in-the-box (first being pushed down and then springing up) • popcorn popping (starting with little kernels in the pan) 33 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL