Nathan loves to play, but he loves his video games more. So can a trip to Animal Moves land convince him there’s more fun outdoors? Best-selling author and movement coach Darryl Edwards has created this fun adventure inspired by his passion for encouraging kids to move in an ever-increasing sedentary environment.

Discover the joys of animal moves with your little cubs in this first book of movement. Join Nathan and his cute, but sometimes lazy, dog as they crawl, jump and balance their way through the animal kingdom re-enacting moves designed to emphasise fun. It’s all in this exercise for kids book that focuses on family fun boredom busters.

Do you want to make physical activity for kids fun?
Are you looking for ways to help your children develop strength, coordination and balance?
Do your children love learning about animals?
Are you worried about too much TV and screen time?
Do you want to teach young children about the importance of physical activity?
Would you like easy and fun fitness games to include in your day?

My First Animal Moves is your answer. Play along together, keeping everyone healthier and happier, promoting physical, mental and emotional well-being. You’ll all release more mood-enhancing hormones as a result, which help you feel good every day.

It’s written by professional movement coach and award-winning author Darryl Edwards. My First Animal Moves distils the ideas in his bestselling Animal Moves book and Animal Moves Fitness Decks into a colourful picture book for children.

This unique story broadens the perspective of movement with a fun activity for kids that encourages active play for children. So help your kids get outside and play in nature like it’s their playground, and don’t forget to join in too!

My First Animal Moves by Darryl Edwards is a lively, practical, and inspiring book. It is all about getting children to put down those controllers and do something fun and exciting using their whole bodies rather than just their thumbs.

Being the mother of three sons (although they are older now) I know just how much they want to game or watch movies, Netflix, etc. I’m also of the generation that grew up without the types of gaming machines we have today. We spent most of our childhood outside playing tag, British Bulldog, or zooming around on our bikes. So I’ve witnessed the lack of movement that some children have today compared to when I was younger.

This book aims to get children excited about moving their bodies and being away from their electronic devices by copying the moves of animals. We meet Nathan who loves gaming more than anything else, that is until a wise owl invites him to the Animal Moves Land and introduces him (and his dog) to lots of different animals who all move differently and gets Nathan to copy them.

From jumping like Kangaroo to hopping like a frog. Creeping like a bear or balancing like a crane, there are a lot of animals to copy in the story. I also laughed at the thoughts Nathan’s dog shares.

I loved this book. I think it is written with a tremendous amount of care for children’s wellbeing. It isn’t preachy, as the author states watching TV or playing games is fine but you need to move too. It is highly illustrated with full-page bright, colourful images that teach children how to move like the animals along with Nathan. Plus, it is highly entertaining.

My First Animal Moves is a book that can be enjoyed by the child alone, as a family, or even a school class could use the story in P.E. to get the children moving like the animals. It is certainly versatile and I can see children loving this book, hopefully just as much or more than they do their gaming machines!

Darryl Edwards is a former investment banking technologist turned movement coach and author. He is the founder of the Primal Play Method and a physical activity, health and play researcher. The Primal Play Method fuses the science of evolutionary biology with exercise physiology and play psychology.

Darryl wants to inspire humans regardless of age, ability or disability to transform their health by making physical activity fun and engaging.

His work has featured on documentaries, TV, radio, podcasts and international press.

Darryl is author of the best-selling book “Animal Moves” and has released a range of fun fitness cards for adults, juniors, infants, office workers and fitness professionals called the Animal Moves Decks and a children’s picture book called “My First Animal Moves”.

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