Here are some activities you can use for transitions, all of which promote one or more aspects of physical fitness!

Stand Up/Sit Down.  Upon arrival, once the children have removed outerwear and gathered in the center of the room, an activity called Stand Up/Sit Down can get both the brain and the body warmed up, while also working on the concepts of up and down. Doing this quickly will get the heart pumping, and because the children think it’s funny, it’s a great way to start the day.

Sit with the children, who are either in a circle or scattered throughout the space. Invite the children to alternately stand up or sit down if:

•        they’re glad to be there

•        they’re feeling good that day

•        they’re happy to see their friends

•        they’re happy to see their teacher

•        they’re looking forward to learning something new

•        they’re wearing something blue [green, yellow, etc.]

•        if they’re a boy [girl]

•        if they have a cat [dog] at home

If the children are going to transition to another area of the room, end with a standing challenge. If you are going to do another activity with them for which they need to be seated, end with a sitting challenge.
 

Quick Clean-up. Put on a piece of music with a fast tempo and challenge the children to clean up before the song ends.

 

Get Ready, Spaghetti. When it’s time for lunch or snack, using a food-related transition makes the most sense. This activity encourages the children to consider the “before” and “after” of pasta. It also serves as a relaxation exercise (contracting and releasing the muscles) as the children wait for snack or lunch.

Talk to the children about the differences between uncooked and cooked spaghetti, letting them come up with ideas on their own. If they need prompting, you can ask them to tell you which is straighter and harder, and which is limp and squiggly. Then invite them to demonstrate with their bodies uncooked and cooked spaghetti. Alternate between the two, ending with the cooked version so the children’s muscles are relaxed.      

Here We Go. Use this activity when it is time to move from where the children have gathered to another part of the classroom. This activity offers an opportunity for the children to experience a variety of locomotor (traveling) skills.

Challenge the children to move to their next destination in one of the following ways, making sure to ask them only to perform skills within their capabilities:

•     jumping (two feet)

•     hopping (one foot)

•     marching

•     walking (lightly; stomping)

•     jogging

•    galloping

•    skipping

An alternate activity is to play Follow the Leader, using brisk and/or forceful movements (e.g., stomping) to transition.

 Moving Like Animals. Moving like an animal stimulates the imagination, allows an opportunity to practice a variety of movements, and helps create empathy for the world’s creatures. You can either designate the animal the children are to portray or allow them to choose the animal they would each like to be.

A Listening Walk. Explain to the children that they're going outside on a listening walk to discover how many things they can hear. Remind them to put on their "listening ears" and to move very quietly. Then take the children for at least a 10-minute walk. When you get back to the classroom, ask them to describe the things they heard. Because listening is one of the components of language arts, this activity falls under that content area, as well as under science (the emphasis on the sense of hearing).

A Seeing Walk. Take the children on a walk, explaining that they're to watch very carefully as they walk, noting all the different things they see. Depending on their level of development, you can either ask them to tell you what they're seeing as you walk (least challenging) or wait until you get back to the classroom and ask them to describe all that they saw (more challenging). This activity focuses on the sense of sight, making it a science experience.

Carved in Sand. Take outside sheets of paper with the numbers 0 to 9 printed on them. Bring the children to the sandbox, or to an area where there's dirt. Point to a number and invite the children to copy it in the sand with their pointer finger. They then erase it with a hand and start the process anew with another number. This math activity can easily be turned into one in language arts by copying letters instead of numbers.

Linear Limbo. Two children stand holding the ends of a long rope, high enough to allow the children to walk under it. The rest of the children form a single-file line. Point out that both the rope and the children themselves are in straight lines. As each child takes a turn walking under the rope (be sure to emphasize the word under), she or he relieves one of the rope holders, who moves to the end of the line. After everyone has had a turn, the rope holders lower it slightly. When it becomes challenging for some of the children to get under it, the rope holders angle it, one child holding it at waist height and the other holding it as high as possible. The remaining children can go under it at any point and in any way they want. What more fun way to explore the concepts of under and horizontal lines than by playing a game of limbo?

Running like the Wind. On a day when there's a good stiff breeze, talk with the children about the wind. Bring them outdoors, each with a ribbon stick that you invite them to hold above their head. What does the wind do to the ribbons? How do the ribbons move? Can they imagine what the wind would look like? Can they move their bodies the same way their ribbons move? Ask what happens to the ribbons if they move them back and forth or side to side. Now invite the children to walk, holding their sticks overhead, and pretend they are the wind. What kind of wind are they? A gentle breeze? A strong headwind? A ferocious storm? Exploring the element of wind, of course, is a science activity; but all the talking puts it squarely under language arts, too!

Following, in no particular order, are other teaching tips to help you keep students focused and on the ground.

Establish Boundaries. Too much space, as in a large gym, can be overwhelming to some children. You also don't want them roaming so far from you and the group that they're either unable to hear you or no longer seem to be part of the activity. Use masking tape, rope, or plastic cones to outline the boundaries.

Use Positive Challenges. If you assume the students are capable of handling your challenges, they're more likely to be capable. For example, "Find two ways to..." assumes students can find ways to respond. Similarly, "Show me you can..." implies you know they can. Conversely, if you present challenges by asking "Can you...?" you're implying a choice, and man young children will simply say no.
    Also, young children love to show off, especially for their teachers. Therefore, if you introduce challenges with phrases like "Show me you can" or "Let me see you," the children will want to show you they can. Positive challenges are a simple technique but amazingly effective.

Use Your Voice as a Tool. This is a straightforward, commonsense suggestion. If you want the children to move slowly, speak slowly. If you want them to move quietly, speak quietly. Also, just as you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, you can attract and maintain more attention with a lower volume than with a higher one. Children are far more likely to react positively to a whisper than to a yell.

Monitor Energy Levels. Movement activities can generate an abundance of energy, and too much energy can result in frustrating, unproductive, unmanageable classes. Too little energy can have comparable results because tired children tend to display irritability and off-task behavior.

If you find that the children as a whole have too little energy, use lively music to inspire them. If they've overexcited, put on a piece of soothing music. Usually, alternating vigorous and quieter activities is enough to ensure against frenzy and fatigue. For example, if the children have been performing gross motor movement, you could follow up with nonlocomotor movement or even a relaxation exercise. However, if the children have an excess of energy (which is more often the case) and nothing you try works to rein them in, sit and watch them run! They'll be practicing a locomotor skill, promoting cardiorespiratory endurance, and having fun. What more could you ask from a lesson? And when they've burned themselves out, they'll come back to you out of breath and ready to do whatever you ask.

These tips are excerpted from Physical Education for Young Children (Human Kinetics, 2008) by Rae Pica.

More Circle Games

Circles bring about a sense of community -- of belonging -- that no other formation offers. Whether the children are holding hands or simply sitting side by side, the circle is a symbol of togetherness. It allows them to see and hear everyone else. To remain part of the circle, children must accept the rules and role assigned. Recognition of others and both verbal and nonverbal communication are among the social skills fostered "in the round."

Name Ball. This simple game is a great way for children to get to know one another's names at the start of the school year. Later, it can be used to impart other pertinent information about each child.

    Ask the children to stand in a large circle. One child starts by saying his name and then gently passes a small, easy-to-grip ball to the child to either his right or left, who must then say her name as she catches the ball. The process continues around the circle until all of the children have said their names. Then, to help the children more quickly remember each other's name, reverse the process.

    once the children know each other's names, have them call out the name of the person to whom they're tossing the ball.

Movement Mimic. This is similar to the old game of Gossip, where one player begins by whispering something into the ear of the next player, who in turn whispers it to the next player, and so on all the way around the circle. But, here, instead of trying to get the same words all the way around, the children try to replicate the same movement.

    Standing, form a circle with the children and begin by choosing an action that each child must take turns imitating until it comes back to you. For instance, you might gently squeeze the hand of the child to your right, and she must do the same to the child on her right, and so on around the circle (i.e., sequential movement).

The Spokes of the Wheel Go 'Round & 'Round. Ask the children if they've seen the spokes on a bicycle wheel. Talk to them about the concept before starting this game.

    Ask the children to stand in a close circle, each child facing someone else's back. The children then extend their arms toward the inside of the circle so everyone's hands are touching. They then go 'round and 'round, like a bicycle wheel, trying to keep all the spokes attached!

Do As I Say. This game requires concentration! Start off slowly -- speak slowly and give just a few commands at a time. Even if you notice children aren't getting it quite right, just smile and move right along to the next challenge.

    The children stand in a circle, with you in the center. Explain that you're going to give them a short list of things to do but that they're not to do them until you've completed the list. Then present such challenges as:

• Jump forward, jump backward.

• Clap twice, blink your eyes.

• Turn yourself around, give yourself a hug.

• Touch your knees, touch your head.

• Clap twice, blink your eyes, turn around.

With older, more experienced children, you can extend the list of commands even further. They may not be able to "clap twice, blink eyes, turn around, give yourself a hug," but they'll have fun trying!

These games, along with their variations, appear in Great Games for Young Children (Gryphon House, 2006) by Rae Pica.

The outdoors is the perfect place for children to experience science concepts – both because it’s where so much of science (plants, animals, weather, etc.) lives and because being outdoors is an experience of the senses! These science activities, adapted from Jump into Science, are meant to be experienced outside, and since it’s summer, the timing is perfect!

   Hear It! Being outside means hearing different things! These activities provide an opportunity for children to focus on sound in a natural setting. You’ll need one sturdy twig or one rhythm stick per child.

                Bring the children outside and simply ask them to move around the area using their twig or rhythm stick to create different sounds. For example, they might tap a tree trunk in different spots, with various degrees of force and using different parts of their twig or rhythm stick. How different does it sound to rub the tree trunk with the stick? To tap or rub the ground? To move the stick through some leaves?

   Touch It! This activity will help children consider their sense of touch and simultaneously create an awareness of natural wonders.

                With the children scattered about the outside area, call out “Touch something rough” The children then run to touch something rough, like a tree trunk or a rock. Continue with different textures, such as smooth, bumpy, or slippery. Repeat each texture more than once so children can consider multiple possibilities for each one.

Goin’ on a Treasure Hunt. Children are born collectors, so this activity gives them an excuse to do what comes naturally. It also promotes awareness of nature and reinforces classification skills. You’ll need one small pail or bag per child, a large container, and a blanket.

                Bring the children outside and simply challenge them to find as many rocks as they can. When you give the signal to stop, the children should bring their treasures to a central meeting place and put them on the blanket for all to see. How are the rocks different? How are they the same? Which is the biggest? Which is the strangest? Next, have the children collect another kind of treasure. For example, they can search for fallen leaves, twigs, or flower petals.

                Once all of the items have been collected, ask the children to classify them. For example, if the children have been collecting rocks they might organize them according to color, texture, or size.

Take an Air Walk. This simple activity helps children understand that air moves things. It also strengthens the children’s powers of observation and provides an opportunity for them to get some exercise!

                With a large trash bag in hand, go for a walk with the children on a breezy day. Challenge them to look for things that the air is moving. Some possibilities include flags, trees, leaves 9both on and off the trees), clothes on a clothesline, flowers, and even litter. Tell the children that it is particularly important to keep the planet clean, and encourage them to collect any litter they see and put it in a trash bag.

                You might also expand this activity into a “light walk.” Create awareness of light in the world around us by looking for interesting shadows created by buildings, trees, flagpoles, and so on.

• Turn off the TV! Some studies show children are being electronically entertained an average of five to six hours a day. Without electronics, they'll have to find other ways to keep themselves entertained.
   

• Play with your children! Blow bubbles for them to chase, play tag and hide-and-seek, put on an up-tempo song and boogie in the living room, or break out the pots and pans and hold a parade around the house!
   

• Serve as a role model, taking part in physical activity yourself -- cheerfully!
   

• Take the children to parks, playgrounds, or beaches; on hikes, bowling, or skating during vacations and on weekends.
   

• When it's time for gift giving, choose items like hula hoops; balls in a variety of shapes, sizes, and textures; roller skates; or a wading pool or swing set. When shopping for games, Twister has more to offer than a board game. And CDs with lively music are a better choice than movie DVDs.
   

• Don't expect organized sports to take care of your child's physical activity needs. There's more waiting than moving in most structured, adult-directed games.
   

These activities are excerpted from Jump into Math: Active Learning for Preschool Children by Rae Pica (Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, 2008).

That's About the Size of It. This activity has the children exploring the quantitative concepts of big, little, long, short, high, and low. As a bonus, because physically experiencing these concepts promotes word comprehension, it also offers lessons in emergent literacy.

    Invite the children to demonstrate the following with their bodies: big/small, tall/short, high/low, long/short. Explain that while the shapes they're taking on may be similar, the words are slightly different. Discuss how.

    Repeat the activity, helping the children to make distinctions. For example, big could be depicted with arms out to the sides, while tall tends to be demonstrated with arms above the head. Long could be demonstrated while lying down!

    Later, you can ask the children to pair up, with partners demonstrating the contrast in each set of words. (Partner activities further explore the quantitative concept of together.)

Tracing Numbers. This activity imprints the shapes of the various numbers on the children's minds and bodies by asking them to form and then "trace" them. It also provides practice with locomotor skills. Post the numbers 0 to 9 where the children can see them. Each child will also need a jump rope.

    Beginning with the numerals with the simplest shapes (0, 1, and 7), choose a number and ask the children to each make that number on the floor with the rope. Once a number is ready, invite the children to trace (move along) its shape with a locomotor skill of your choice (walking, jogging, and jumping are the easiest).

Body Parts. Use this activity to reinforce counting skills and one-to-one correspondence. It matches numbers to body parts, meaning the children don't have to count any higher than 10. Because it requires the children to identify body parts, the activity also falls under the content area of science.

    Invite the children to discover and point out the body parts that they have two of (eyes, ears, hands, feet, knees, elbows, eyebrows, and so on). How many body parts can they name/ Which parts of the face come only in ones? (Possible answers include the mouth, nose, forehead, and chin.) How many fingers do they have? What else do they have 10 of?

Above, Below, & On. Positional concepts are a part of basic geometry. The children explore three positional concepts in this activity.

    Each child places a jump rope flat on the floor, in a straight horizontal line. Call out the words "above," "below," or "on," indicating where the children should stand in relation to the line. Call out the words in various orders and tempos!

What do you do with a baby who simply doesn’t enjoy being on the tummy?        

First, it’s important to acclimate an infant to this position as early in life as possible.  Right from the start, following a nap or diaper change, two to three times a day, you should place him on his tummy for a brief play period.  You can gradually increase the length of these periods as the baby becomes used to them.  Also, whenever possible, lie on your back and place the baby facedown on your chest.  This not only helps him adapt to this position; it will also give him a reason to lift his head: to look at you!  

But even if  tummy time didn't begin the day she came home from the hospital, it’s not too late to start!  Following are some suggestions for making tummy time a fun time. 

• Get “down and dirty” with baby.  Lie side by side with the baby and have a “conversation!”  Coo and sing and make funny sounds.  There’s no one else’s voice he’d rather hear.  When the baby is ready to start lifting his head, you can also lie head-to-head with him.  He’ll eventually lift his head and push up on his arms because he wants to look at you. You can make it worth his effort by making his favorite funny faces!
   

• Tempt her with a toy.  Place a favorite toy or stuffed animal just out of baby’s reach and encourage her to get it!  Mirrors and rattles work well, too.
   

• Circle the wagons.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends placing toys in a circle around the baby.  Reaching in different directions helps develop the muscles needed to roll over, scoot, and crawl.
   

• Give him a lift.  If all else fails and the baby still fusses while facedown, place a pillow or a “boppy” under his chest, with his arms in front of him. Or lay him across your lap, raising one of your legs to create a slight incline. This will make it easier for him to see what’s going on around him and should stop the fussing. Then, as he develops upper body strength, he’ll no longer need the lift.
   

• Remember: The policy is “Back to Sleep.  Tummy to Play!”

Being Balloons. Breath control plays an important role in relaxation. When we inhale slowly and then exhale twice as slowly, we decrease the supply of carbon dioxide in the blood, thus slowing down the activity of the nerves and brain. To promote deep breathing with children, ask them to pretend to be a balloon, slowly inflating (by inhaling through the nose) and deflating (by exhaling through the mouth). You'll likely need to demonstrate this yourself first.

Statues & Rag Dolls. The ability to intentionally control muscular tension is also critical to relaxation. Adults do this by alternately contracting and releasing their muscles. However, because young children won't understand the terms contract and release, you can play a game called Statues & Rag Dolls. Before you being, talk with the children about the differences between statues and rag dolls. Then alternately invite them to pretend to be a statue and then a rag doll. This, as you can imagine, requires them to alternately contract and release the muscles. (Always end with the rag doll!)

Melting. Melting is a wonderful -- and fun -- slow-motion activity. Talk about the melting of ice cream cones, snow sculptures, or ice cubes. Then ask the children to pretend to be one of these things and to show you just how slowly they can melt.

Finding Creatures in the Clouds. This can only be a relaxation exercise if it doesn't become an assignment! If you send little ones outside to find creatures in the clouds, simply make it a suggestion and, perhaps, provide a blanket for them to lie on. If you join them in the activity, resist the temptation to turn it into a contest to see who can find the most creatures. Instead, lie beside them and quietly describe what you're seeing. And if nobody discovers any creatures, it's okay to just lie there looking.

The following use divergent production (multiple possible responses) to stimulate children’s imaginations and problem-solving skills.

 Ask a group of children to create shapes with their bodies and you’re likely to get as many different shapes as there are children! Ask them to show you the following:

• round
• flat
• high
• low
• wide
• narrow
• pointed
• crooked

You can also ask them to take on the shapes of pencils, tables, chairs, teapots, and rugs!

The Color of… Invite children to show you with their body what comes to mind when you say the color yellow [blue, green, red]!

Happy Endings. Start a story about anything at all. After a sentence or two, stop and point to a child, who picks up the thread and adds her own next line. Whether you have just one child there and the two of you go back and forth, or you have several children who each take a turn, the story’s likely to go in unexpected ways. Once it’s completed, act it out!

Spring Has Sprung. Talk to the children about the planting of seeds in the spring. Then invite them to imagine they’re tiny seeds under the earth. With you alternately acting as the sun and the rain, the “seeds” begin to slowly grow into beautiful trees and flowers. What would the trees and flowers look like if a warm spring breeze were blowing them? What if there was a lot of rain and it made the plants and flowers “droopy?”

Moving with Limitations. Challenge children to find two different ways to move:

• at a low level in space
• at a high level
• in a round shape
• in a pointy shape
• in a crooked shape
• using both the hands and feet
• using any body part(s) but the feet

I’ve discovered that my son’s school is abusing the daily recess time and I want to do something about it….His teachers are using recess to punish kids. For example, if they either forget to bring in homework or fail to do it, they miss recess. If they misbehave, they miss recess. Any of his teachers have the power to deny recess...

Father of a 5^th-grade student

Today I was taken out of class and called before the principal and his assistant to be questioned about my practice of rewarding good behavior and hard work with “extra recess.” I was told I am NO LONGER allowed to do this except as a very rare exception as our students have a short enough day as it is….HELP!!!

3^rd-grade teacher

At the beginning of every new school year, more and more parents discover that recess is disappearing from the landscape of their children’s school days. If this is the case for you – and you’ve seen the impact it has on your child – following are seven steps you can take to fight this trend. 

1. Do your homework. First, find out about recess at your child’s school. Do they have it? How often does it occur? How long does it last? What happens on the playground? Find out from other parents what their children are experiencing. Are children ever kept from recess? Why?
    
2. Be sensitive. When talking with your child’s classroom teacher, remember that most teachers today are under tremendous pressure to achieve nearly impossible objectives. They could use a break, too!
    
3. Don’t go it alone. One concerned parent can be considered a rabble-rouser, but several concerned parents have influence. Recruit the parents of your children’s friends and classmates. Contact the president of the schools’ parent or parent/teacher organization to discuss your concerns. With the help of the association, set up a meeting with the school’s principal.
    
4. Do some more homework. If you don’t like the answers you’re receiving and you want to bring about change, you’ll need backup in the form of research and respected professionals. Go to the websites of the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play (www.ipausa.org) and Rescuing Recess (www.rescuingrecess.com) and use the information they provide. If possible, find a local professional who feels strongly about the need for recess and play in early childhood and recruit him or her to address school administrators and/or the school board if necessary.
    
5. Educate! Make copies of the information you’ve accumulated, highlighting the important points, and distribute them among administrators, faculty, and other parents. Whenever possible, speak one-on-one with teachers, school board members, and parents.
    
6. Alert the media! Write letters to the editors of the local newspapers, submit an opinion piece, or just call and tell them your story. Contact local radio and television stations. Invite a television feature reporter to experience recess with your child. Or, if your child’s school has no recess, invite the reporter to join your child’s class for a day without breaks.
    
7. Thing big! Work with your elected officials and school board members to ensure recess is available for every child every day in every school. Ask your PTA to include, within its state resolutions, recess as a mandatory part of each school day. Become a recess advocate for your state. You can learn how at the website of the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play. There you’ll find a comprehensive packet – free – to anyone who asks!

Initially, a child who hasn’t had enough practice in self-sufficiency is going to need help generating ideas of things to do. When that happens, you can offer her choices, but keep it to a minimum of two or three so she doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the decision making. Point out that she has a new book waiting to be read. Offer to get her set up for finger painting. Or ask if she would like to help with something you need to get done – making cookies or raking the leaves, for instance. If none of these choices appeal to her, stay your course. If you assure her that you have every confidence she can find something to do, she may be initially stumped, but because she’ll want to validate your belief in her, she’ll find something.

 Boston Globe parenting columnist Barbara Meltz suggests that a parent sit down with a child to brainstorm a list of activities the child enjoys. If you write them on slips of paper and put them in a jar, the next time he’s bored he’ll have plenty of ideas to choose from. And having helped create the list, he’ll take pride in it and feel empowered.

 Boredom in the family car is too often cured with DVD players – an item I’d happily ban if I had my way! They promote the idea that being electronically entertained is more important than families talking to one another, and more important than taking in the surroundings, no matter how beautiful they may be. The next time you’re on the road with your family or child, fill as much time as you can with conversation. When that runs its course, play a game of I Spy (for example, “I spy something that begins with the letter f,” for field or flowers). Whoever guesses what the other person has in mind gets to start the next round. Not only does this draw attention to what’s outside the vehicle’s windows, but it also reinforces letter awareness. To promote color recognition and appreciation, challenge passengers to see how many green, red, blue, or yellow things they can find. And when the conversation and games run out, don’t be afraid of a little quiet time. It’ll give your child a chance to think or simply rest.

 An age-old favorite for counteracting boredom in the outdoors is to find creatures in the clouds. But don’t make it an assignment! If you send your little one outside to find creatures in the clouds, simply make it a suggestion and, perhaps, provide a blanket for her to lie on. If you join her in the activity, resist the temptation to turn it into a contest to see who can find the most creatures. Instead, lie beside her and quietly describe what you’re seeing. And if neither of you discovers any creatures, it’s okay to just lie there looking.

The following activities are adapted from Jump into Literacy: Active Learning for Preschool Children by Rae Pica (Gryphon House, 2007). Included are one each from the four main sections: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing...

What Do You Hear? In this simple activity, children identify sounds. Ask them to close their eyes. Make a sound, inviting the children to try to identify it. Some sounds to try are rattling a keychain, clapping your hands, ringing a bell, opening and closing a drawer, or blowing a whistle. Identifying sounds with eyes closed requires careful listening!
      A more difficult challenge is to use a tape recorder to record familiar sounds children might hear both in and out of the classroom. Possibilities include a vacuum cleaner, a door closing, a phone ringing, a clock ticking, an electric can opener, or a doorbell. You can also invite the children to demonstrate each object they identify by pretending to be the object or pretending to use it. For example, if one of the sounds is a vacuum cleaner, the children can act like a vacuum cleaner or pretend to be vacuuming.

Do-Re-Mi. The notes of the musical scale (d0-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do) may seem to be about music only, but singing these notes helps children learn to enunciate as it also familiarizes them with vowels. Ask the children to echo what you sing as clearly as they can. Then sing each note of the scale, with the children echoing each note.
     Once the children know the scale well and can sing it along with you, ask them to place their hands on their laps and to raise them a little higher with each note. Explain that their hands are ascending along with the notes. When the children have had a lot of practice with the scale, try it in reverse. Tell them that this is known as descending.
     When the children are familiar with long and short vowels, since the scale slowly, asking them to make their bodies long on those notes with long vowels and to make their bodies short on those with short vowels. (It doesn't matter that mi is spelled m-i, as the children won't yet know that and will hear m-e.)

Top to Bottom. Reading (and writing) involves going from the top to the bottom of a page. This activity provides practice with the experience of moving in a downward direction. The more children physically experience directionality, the more it is imprinted on their bodies and in their minds. This means that the more comfortable children are with moving their bodies in a downward direction, the more comfortable they will be moving their eyes in that direction.
     Invite the children to move the following from up high to down low: one (the other) hand, both hands together, the nose, a shoulder, their belly button, their whole body (then pop up and do it again!).
     For a greater challenge, combing top-to-bottom spatial orientation with word comprehension by asking children to show you the differences among these words by moving from high to low positions: shrink, melt, collapse, shrivel.

Open & Close. With fewer opportunities to swing across monkey bars or climb trees, today's children need as many hand-strengthening activities as we can provide for them. This simple activity is good for strengthening the muscles of the hands.
     Lead the children in opening and closing their hands at varying tempos, alternately stretching fingers to their limit and then clenching fists tightly! Use the words open and close to reinforce these opposite verbs.

Alphabet Fun. Singing the alphabet song helps children memorize the order of the letters. To help promote letter recognition, and therefore pre-reading and pre-writing, play a game in which you show the child a letter and then ask her to create its shape with her body or body parts. You can also create a large letter with a jump rope and invite your child to travel its shape by walking, tiptoeing, or hopping on it. Activities like these will help “imprint” the information on the child’s body and in her mind.

Sound Games. To promote active listening, play sound games. With baby lying on his back, shake a rattle or other noise-producing object above his head or to his side, encouraging him to locate the sound. When he’s crawling, hide behind various pieces of furniture, whispering his name until he finds you. Ask an older child to close his eyes and try to identify what’s producing the sound you make. Then jingle car keys, clap your hands, cluck your tongue, or tap a drinking glass with a spoon. You can also take a listening walk, during which you identify all the different sounds you hear. For a greater challenge, bring a handheld tape recorder with you. See if you and the child can identify the sounds recorded once you’ve returned from your trip.

Everyday Science Experiments. Give the child a paintbrush and a bucket of water and let her “paint” the outside of the house or school building. She’ll get some upper-torso exercise while simultaneously learning lessons about absorption and evaporation. Playing with bubbles or chiffon scarves teaches lessons in flotation and gravity.

Problem Solving: Storytelling. Read a story and invite the child to make up his own ending. Or invent a story of your own, going back and forth between the two of you, one line at a time.

Problem Solving: Movement Challenges. Present challenges that have more than one response. For example, invite her to discover two different ways to move on four body parts. (Possibilities include moving on hands and knees, hands and feet, or knees and elbows.) If she’s walking the curb, the edge of the sandbox, or a low balance beam, invite her to find other ways to move along it in a forward direction. (Possibilities include tiptoeing, galloping, hopping, or scooting on the bottom or tummy.) Whenever there’s more than one way to do something, gently urge the child to “find another way.” With any kind of problem solving, it is the most obvious solutions that first come to mind. A child will need encouragement to look beyond the obvious.

Above activities excerpted from A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity, and Free Time Create a Successful Child (New York: Marlowe & Company, 2006).

Hoop Hop.  Give each child a plastic hoop to lie on the floor.  The child hops in and out, all the way around it.  Having completed the circle, she should reverse direction and repeat the exercise on the other foot.  (Note: If a jump isn't yet hopping, she can jump all the way around the back.)

"Pop Goes the Weasel."  Ask the children to walk to this familiar melody, jumping into the air each time they hear the "pop."  You can hum or sing the song or lay a recording of it.  Once children have mastered the challenge to jump on the "pop," ask them to jump and change direction, too.

Running across the Country.  With primary-grade children, you can challenge them to race across the country, plotting their daily progress on a map, thereby integrating physical fitness with geography and math lessons.  Once around the gym or playground area might, for instance, equal a mile on the map.  With preschoolers, you might use a puzzle map instead.  Every day they run around the designated area, or for the length of a favorite recording, another state is placed on the puzzle to show their progress.

Rabbits & 'Roos.  Children love to pretend to be animals.  Ask them to jump like rabbits and kangaroos, alternating from one to the other.  Which is the larger of the two animals?  Which would jump the heaviest?

Statues.  Making a game out of moving to music can free even the most inhibited of children.  Put on a lively piece of music, and instruct the children to move in any way they want while it's playing.  When the music stops (you press the pause button on the CD or tape player), they must freeze into statues and stay that way until the music begins again.  To ensure this falls into the moderate-to-vigorous-activity category, keep the pauses short and the musical segments long!

Visual Tracking.  Provide your baby with bright, colorful objects to watch.  Finger puppets or a brightly colored sock placed on your hand can be used to gain and keep the baby’s attention.  Slowly move your hand up and down, in circles, and to the right and left.  You might also play “sound” games with your baby.  Shake a rattle or other noise-producing object above the baby’s head or to his side, encouraging him to locate the sound.  This provides practice with both visual tracking and sound discrimination.

Body Awareness.  Sing and demonstrate “Where Is Thumbkin?”  Play games like “This Little Piggy” with both toes and fingers.  Touch her nose, exclaiming, “I’ve got your nose!”  Then proceed to play the game with such other body parts as toes, ears, fingers, and legs.  When the baby’s developmentally ready, ask her to find your nose, ears, mouth, and so on.

Individuation.  There’s nothing like the tried-and-true game of peekaboo to help the child begin to see himself as a separate individual.  It also makes babies laugh!  Once the baby is familiar with this game, you can move on to “Where’s Mommy [Daddy, Nana, etc.]?”  Begin by placing your hands over your face, just as you would with peekaboo.  Later, hide your whole self behind a piece of furniture, asking, “Where’s Mommy?”  You then pop up, answering, “Here’s Mommy!”

Eye-Hand Coordination.  Any activity in which the baby is reaching for or batting an object promotes eye-hand coordination.  Another option, appropriate for infants as young as three months, is to sew a bell or bells onto an elastic band that you can slip on your baby’s wrists or ankles.  Once on, gently shake the body part until the baby looks at it.

    Also, when your baby is able to sit unassisted, make him comfortable on the floor, legs apart.  Sit opposite him in a similar manner and roll a large, brightly colored ball toward him.  Describe what you’re doing and encourage him to push it back to you.

Another possibility: Give her two large paper or plastic cups, one of which is filled with dry cereal; and encourage her to pour the cereal from one cup to the other.  Since can be a messy activity, it’s best to first prepare the floor area with a large vinyl tablecloth!

Imitation.  Babies are great at mimicking, and at about ten months of age they have a greater understanding of what they’re doing and really enjoy it.  Surprisingly enough, imitating is an important skill, as the ability to physically replicate what the eyes are seeing comes in handy later for things like writing and drawing.  Also, imitation helps confirm for babies that they’re like other people.

Play the mirror game with your baby while sitting and facing each other.  Stick out your tongue, wiggle your fingers in your ears, wave your arms up and down, all while encouraging the baby to do likewise.  When your baby is ready to figure out how the game is played, encourage him to lead while you imitate.

Later, when your baby is mobile, “Follow the Leader” is a wonderful game to play.  It will encourage imitating and also provide practice with walking.  Be sure to vary the speed of your movements, the pathways you take (possibilities are straight, curving, and zigzagging), and your body’s shape (big, small, wide, etc.).

Duck, Duck, Goose.   This game appeared in the PE Hall of Shame because, traditionally played, it involves physical activity for only one or two players and a good deal of waiting for the rest.  Also, some players were repeatedly chosen to be the “goose” – sometimes friends of the player who’s It and sometimes the slowest children, who had little chance of catching It.  And tagged players were relegated to the center of the circle, singled out as “failures.”  This revised version changes all that!

    Instead of sitting motionless in a circle, the children stand in a circle and walk in place as the game is played.  One child, who is It, walks around the circle, tapping the other children’s shoulders and saying either “duck” or “goose.”  When someone is assigned to be “goose,” she chases It around the circle, trying to tag him.  If she does tag him, he stands in her original place and she gets to be It.  If she doesn’t tag him, she returns to her spot and he gets to be It again.

    An important ground rule: It can’t choose someone who’s already been a “goose” until everyone’s had a chance.

 Cat & Mouse I.  The original game involves all players, with the exception of the “cat” and the “mouse,” simply standing in a circle.  And they can be standing there for quite a while, depending on how long it takes the cat to catch the mouse.  With two simple modifications, there’s more active participation for all!

    Choose two children – one to be the cat and one to be the mouse.  The remaining children stand in a circle, slightly apart, and sway side to side.  The object of the game is for the cat to catch the mouse on the inside of the circle.  But this is harder than it seems because the mouse can run between two players, who then join hands, keeping the cat from passing through.

    Time the children, giving each cat one minute (or more, if you feel it works better) to catch the mouse.  If the cat can’t catch the mouse, the mouse becomes the next cat and another mouse is chosen.  If the cat does catch the mouse, they both rejoin the circle and a new pair is chosen.

 Leap Frog.  This game is played pretty much in the traditional way.  It does require a bit of waiting, though; so if you have a large group, you’ll want to divide them into smaller ones.

    The children form a circle, crouched on their hands and feet and facing someone else’s back.  Designate one child to start as the “frog.”  That child leaps over the child in front of him, and each succeeding child, by placing his hands on the children’s backs for support and straddling his legs as he goes over them.  When he returns to his original spot in the circle, the child behind him acts as the frog.

Over & Under.   You could play this game in a straight line, but playing it in a circle adds to the feeling of togetherness and better enables the children to see what’s going on.

    Hand a playground or small beach ball to one child, who passes it backward over his head to the next child.  The ball goes all the way around the circle in this manner.  The children then stand with legs apart and pass the ball behind them, under their bodies.  When the children are comfortable with both of these ways of passing the ball, have them do it in alternation: one child passing it overhead and the next passing it through the legs.

The Snake.  The students pair off, stretching out on their stomachs, one in front of the other.  The child in back takes hold of the ankles of the child in front, forming a two-person “snake.”  The object of the game is for the snake to see how far it can slither without breaking contact.  Once the children have mastered the challenge of slithering in pairs, invite the two-person snakes to connect with other two-person snakes and to practice slithering at twice their original lengths.  Eventually you can challenge the children to keep connecting until they’ve formed one big snake!

Sticky Popcorn.  Talk to the children about the process of cooking popcorn – from kernels in the oil, through heating up, to becoming full-fledged pieces of popcorn.  What would happen if something sticky, like butter or caramel, was poured all over the popcorn?            Invite the children to lie on the floor, in the smallest shape possible, imagining they’re tiny uncooked kernels of popcorn.  Then the “oil” they’re lying in starts to heat up, and they start popping.  They keep popping – all over the room!  You then “pour” butter or caramel over them, making them very sticky.  When that happens, every time they come near another kernel, they stick to it – until there’s just one big, stuck bunch of popcorn!

Beanbag Freeze.  This game requires the children to each walk around the room with a beanbag balanced on a specific body part.  If the beanbag falls off, the player has to freeze in that spot and wait until another player has retrieved the beanbag for her or him.  The catch is that, if the second player’s beanbag should also fall, that player will be frozen, too, until help comes along.

     Hand out the beanbags and explain the rules to the children.  Invite them at first to balance the beanbag on a fairly simple body part, like the palm or back of the hand.  Then give them the signal to go!

    Make this game even more challenging by asking the children to balance the beanbag on such parts as the top of the head, a shoulder, or an elbow.

Three-Legged Creatures.  The object of this game is for two children to maneuver together as one three-legged creature.  It should get the heart rate up and the giggles going!

      With the children paired up and standing closely, side by side, gently tie their inside legs together with a scarf.  Challenge the children to count how many steps they can take in a predetermined amount of time; then give them the signal to go!

     This game also lends itself to locomotor skills other than walking.  Challenge the children to perform, three-legged, other skills they’re able to perform as individuals.  Possibilities include jumping (in this case, on three feet), hopping (on two feet, lifting either the inside or outside legs), galloping (with either the inside or outside feet leading), and skipping.  (Don’t invite them to try this unless they’re already skipping on both sides of the body, with the correct rhythm, which most children can’t do until they’re at least 5½ years old.)

Art: Color & Shape Awareness.  Show the children pictures or examples of objects in various colors – one at a time – and ask them to demonstrate the shape of each object.  Possibilities include a yellow banana, a green plant, a red apple, an orange, a bunch of purple grapes, or a white snowflake.

 Language Arts: Auditory Sequential Memory & Listening Skills.  Tell the children you’re going to give them a list of movements to do but that they’re not to start doing them until you’ve finished speaking.  Start with a short sequence, for example: clap twice, blink eyes.  When the children are ready, lengthen the sequence; for example: clap twice, blink eyes, turn around (jump in place, sit down, etc.).

 Math: Simple Computation.  Have the children sit in a circle on the floor or the ground.  Call out a child’s name.  The child gets up and stands in the center of the circle.    Ask the children how many are in the center.  When they’ve responded correctly, call out another child’s name.  That child joins the child already in the center.  Ask the children how many are in the circle now.  Continue adding – and subtracting – children, each time asking the group to tell you how many are standing in the center.

Science: Flotation.  Demonstrate for the children how bubbles, feathers, and/or chiffon scarves float through the air.  Is the movement light or heavy?  What are words they would use to describe the movement? 
                If you have scarves available for the children, hand them out and let each child explore for himself or herself how the scarves gently float back down to the ground – no matter how hard they may toss them up.  Challenge the children to pretend to be floating in the air.  Is the movement strong or light?  Are their muscles tight or loose?

 Social Studies: Occupations.  Talk to the children about various occupations frequently associated with one gender or another, without mentioning gender (e.g., chefs, homemakers, hairstylists, police officers, firefighters, carpenters, and dancers).  Ask them to tell you some of the tasks performed by people in these occupations.  Challenge the children to act out some of these tasks, one at a time.