Working on fine and gross motor skills is an essential part of #handsonlearning. As part of our study of Israel, I thought it may be fun to try to walk like a camel.

Honestly it’s much harder than it looks as camels have a very interesting gait. They pace instead of trot, meaning the legs on the right are synchronized as are the legs on the left. While the pair on the right is off the ground, the pair on the left is on the ground and visa versa. The pace is an unstable gait only suitable for flat terrain such as that in deserts.

To start, I printed off several footprint outlines and cut them out. You can download my outlines HERE. I used tape to stick them to my floor so that we could use them as cues. I had to keep the prints pretty close together to accommodate my three year old’s length. Once I had them all pasted down, we started our attempt at pacing.

Here is a visual of a camel pacing: https://youtu.be/-W37bR9GrBg

I tried first and shifting my entire body weight to one side rendered me on my butt. Of course my preschooler laughed. Humph. I managed to get a little better, but still looked ridiculous. My preschooler did pretty good, it was hard for her to balance on one side, she started picking up one arm/foot at a time instead of together.

It’s pretty hard to walk like a camel. But it’s sure fun to try!