Posted in Action Poems, Circle games, co-operation, Coordination games, Drama, Drama Activities for children, Drama for children, drama for kids, Drama games for 3 year olds, Drama games for 4 year olds, Movement activities, Movement stories for children

Movement Activities for Children that focus on Coordination (Drama Games)

Group Of Children With Teacher Enjoying Drama Class Together
From more movement activities, games and stories, click on the image above.

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The following movement activities promote the following types of coordination skills:

Gross motor coordination: This type of coordination is the movement of arms, legs and body that allows children to walk, run, jump, throw kick and twist.

Fine motor coordination: This type of coordination allows children toperform tasks that require precision. Activities that require children to manipulate small objects will improve their fine motor skills.

Hand-eye coordination: This type of coordination allows children to guide their hand to complete the task.

Movement Activities:

Movement activity: Doors and Windows

Age: 5 years

Minimum number of participants:10

Resources needed: Clear space.

Other benefits: Spatial awareness, group work.

Instructions: The children form a circle while standing and holding their hands. The group spreads out enough so that everyone’s arms arestraight in the circle. This should form large spaces between the circle members. These large spaces represent the windows and doors. Then one child is chosen to be the runner. The runner starts running,and weaving in and out between the windows and doors. The children inthe circle randomly drop their arms down trying to touch or trap the runner who is weaving his/her way in and out of the windows and door.Once the runner is caught or touched by the arms of someone in the. circle, they are out. The runner chooses another child in the group to take his/her place and they become the next child to weave in and out of the windows and doors.

Movement activity: Centipede

Age: 5 years +

Minimum number of participants:

Resources  needed: Clear space.

Other benefits: Teamwork, trust.

Instructions: Divide the group into groups of 5 or 6. The children ineach group sit on the floor and hold the ankles of the child behind them. They call out left, right and the group has to try to move while everyone is holding the ankles of the child in front of them. If there is more than one group they can have a centipede race.

 Movement activity: Object Relay

Age: 5 years +

Minimum number of participants: 4

Resources needed: Clear space, a ball and a variety of objects (optional).

Other benefits: Imagination, teamwork, focus.

Instructions: Children stand in a line. If there are lots of childrenin the class you make more than one line. Each line has a ball. The ball must be passed down the line. The teacher calls out the instruction of how the ball should be passed down the line. Once the ball gets to the end of the line it has to be passed back. Suggested instructions:

  • Pass the ball overhead.
  • Pass the ball between your legs.
  • Pass the ball without using your hands.
  • Pass the ball by just using your chest.
  • Pass the ball by just using your head.

If a team drops the ball then they have to go back to the beginning.

Extension: You could have a box of different objects that they must pass down the line. Each line should have the same objects. The line that gets all the objects down safely is the winner.

Movement activity: Bean Bag Balance

Age: 4 years +

Minimum number of participants: 2

Resources needed: Clear space, bean bags for each member of the class Other benefits: Focus, imagination, problem solving.

Instructions: The teacher gets the children put a bean bag on their heads and they walk slowly around the room. Once they feel comfortable the children can walk faster and faster. They can see if they can run with the bean bag on their head. Once they have mastered balancing the beanbags on their head then they can see if they can balance the bean bag on other parts of their body. Suggested Body Parts:

  • Knees
  • Foot
  • Hands
  • Thighs
  • Shoulder
  • Face
  • Wrist
  • Toes

Again, they start off slowly and then they get faster and faster. The child that can balance on the most body parts and move the fastest is the winner.

 

Movement activity: Pick Up the Bean Bag

Age: 3 years +

Minimum number of participants: 2

Resources needed: Clear space and a variety of bean bags, a basket orbox for each child.

Other benefits: Warm up, teamwork.

Instructions: The teacher gets a variety of bean bags and spreads them across the space. The children have 10 seconds to see how many beanbags they can collect. The group could divide into sub-groups of three or four and have a race to see who can pick up the most beanbags in the time allotted.  

Movement activity: Roll the Dice

Age: 3 years+

Minimum number of participants: 2

Resources needed: Clear space, a dice for each member of the group.

Other benefits: Creativity, memory, focus.

Instructions: Everyone rolls their dice together. Each number corresponds to action such as: 1 Wiggle your body for 10 seconds. 2 Spin around 5 times. 3 Stand on your right leg for 15 seconds. 4 Hop 10 times. 5 Make a large circle with your arms 10 times. 6 Close your eyes and take 5 deep breaths. Once the children have become used to the actions, get them to come up with their own actions for each number.  


Movement activity: The Troll’s Bridge

Age: 4 years +

Minimum number of participants: 3

Resources needed: Masking tape, objects to carry.

Other benefits: Energy, focus.

Instructions: Make a bridge with the masking tape. Tell the children that they are crossing a very narrow bridge and there is a troll thatlives underneath it. The children are crossing the bridge going to visit their friend. They are carrying a variety of objects with them.The children are told the troll won’t bother them if they stay on the narrow bridge and don’t drop anything. If they fall off the bridge or drop anything then the troll chases them. The troll can be the teacher or another child. If you want to make it more difficult tell them. to carry the objects over the bridge on their head.  

Movement activity: Cooperative Chase

Age: 3 years +

Minimum number of participants: 6

Resources needed: Clear space.

Other benefits: Warm-up, teamwork.

Instructions: One child volunteers to be “It.” If he catches another child in the group then they join together and connect. The connected pair need to work together to catch a third child who in turn would connect to them. They do it until everyone is connected. If the group catches someone and the connection is broken, then that child is free to go.  

From more movement activities, games and stories, click here.

For free movement activities click on the following: 

 

The hare and the tortoise movement story. 

Goldilocks and the three bears movement story

More movement activities for children. 

 

Posted in Aesop's fabes, co-operation, creative arts, Drama Activities for children, Drama for children, Story sacks, Storytelling, Storytelling in the Early years, Storytelling techniques, Therapeutic Story, Therapeutic writing

Therapeutic Writing-Stories

IMG_0278Basics:
• Everyone has learnt a lesson for a story.
• A story is metaphorical when used to communicate something more than the events itself.
• Symbols are the smallest units of metaphor.
• The story is a metaphor for the ideas it expresses.
• The Importance of fantasy.

The Importance of Fantasy:
Fantasy is the inner world of the child.

Two types of play:
• Imitative – follow the leader, cook like a mother
• Fantasy or symbolic play – a chair becomes a rocket.

How therapeutic stories can help with coping methods

Options about what to do when presented difficult issues
• New possibilities, creative solutions for overcoming problems
• Ways to dealing more effectively with emotional difficulties
• Options for new ways of reacting to situations.

Metaphorical Images:

• Allows the child to stay longer in the situation.
• Provides the means for the child to stay look at his powerful feelings from a distance.

Unknown Thought (Bollas, 1987):

• “ I know this exactly but I have not ever thought it” (Margot Sunderland, 2007)
• When an unknown thought can be named, then it can be thought through and felt through.
• Children need emotional education and therapeutic story help achieve this education.

The Child and the therapeutic story:

• Must be aptly chosen
• Must identify with the main character
• Must suffer the defeats, obstacles and courage of the main character
• Must feel the character’s joys and relief in coming through conflict and crisis to resolution.
• Must be indirect – this where safety lies.

When to tell a T. Story:
When the child is
– Giving full attention
– Being receptive
– Not distracted
– Before they go to sleep.

Important things to remember:
Story can be
-Fantastical,
-Absurd,
-Do not put irrelevant character or side plots into the story,
-Symbolic and not literal,
-Can be interactive.

Therapeutic Story Making:

• Identify a list of emotional issues that children may experience.

Starting:

• Set a therapeutic objective
• What would you like to change?
• Think of a strategy to achieve this change.

Develop a framework:

• Put the issues into a different metaphorical context ……to which the child can relate.
• Borrow ideas from stories you know.
• Start at the end a work backwards.
• Present the main character as experience the same emotional problem as the child- Metaphorical conflict.
• Show the main character using similar methods to deal with the problem as those used by the child – personify unconscious processes and potential in the form of heroes/helpers and villains or obstructions.

Further Development:

• Show how these methods lead your character problems which lead to failure –metaphorical crisis.
• The story so far should have captured the whole context of how that character came to that moment of crisis in their life.

Resolution:

Move towards the solution – vital part of the journey-someone in the story appears to help the character change direction and to move on to a better coping mechanism which makes them feel a lot better.
• Don’t move too quick – story becomes unbelievable.
• Show the journey from crisis to positive solution – new
sense of identification
• Culminates with a celebration in which the protagonist’s special worth is acknowledged.

Symbols:

A symbol – a word or image which implies one thing but means something else.
• Sunset
• Sunrise
• Locked door
• Tornado/hurricane/storm
• Light
• Witch
• Hole in the heart
• Mirror
• Burned.

Metaphors:

Metaphors – using language to talk about one thing while meaning something else.
• Watching paint dry.
• Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
• Give me the bottom line.
• Don’t put your eggs in one basket.

The Ugly Duckling (An example of a Therpeutic Story)

• Metaphorical Conflict – Birth of funny looking duckling.

• Unconscious processes and potentials – Mother defends him, cites positive qualities, gets a first look at swans.

• Parallel learning situations – Learning to swim, take care of himself and fly.

• Metaphorical crisis – Attack in the marsh, cold winter in the pond.

• New identification – Beholds beautiful new image in the water.

• Celebration – The old swans are in awe of him.

• In groups think of a fairytale that could be used as a therapeutic story. Put it into the above framework.
The Magic Forest


Once upon a time there was a young child called Matilda. Matilda’s parents were the king and queen of the magic forest. The king, Matilda’s father was very ……………….. and the queen, Matilda’s mother was always ……………….. Matilda was the kind of child who never …………………… but always ………. Sometimes the king, the queen and Matilda would ………………… but they never ……………… All of them would sometimes go …………and Matilda would feel ……….. One day while walking in the magic forest, Matilda lost her way. She tried and tried to see if she could get back home to the castle. Matilda became ……….. After a while a wizard came hobbling along the path and told Matilda ………………… The wizard also gave …………. The first thing that Matilda did was ………. and she ……………

Finally, after wandering around for a long time, Matilda recognised the path back to the castle. She hurried towards it but suddenly she came across a …………… Now she felt ………… As the sun was setting Matilda trudged through the castle gates and into the castle where the king and queen were very, very, very, ………….. Her father the King told Matilda ………… Matilda felt …………. So told the king and queen……………… It had been a very tiring day for Matilda and she fell asleep. The king and queen watched Matilda as she slept and thought ……………
The next morning Matilda woke up and said to her self “………………………………………………………………………”

In groups, full in the blanks. Read your story out to the rest of the class. Devise an improvisation based around your story.

Posted in co-operation, creative arts, Drama, expressive arts, Fairy Tales, Role playing stories

The Magic Forest!

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This is an excellent activity to do with a variety of age groups. For younger children you can read out the story and get them to use their imaginations to fill in the gaps. For older children they could fill in the gaps in groups. At the end they could do a group picture/painting of their magic forest. They could also do a group improvisation based on their story.

The Magic Forest

Once upon a time there was a young child called Matilda. Matilda’s parents were the king and queen of the magic forest. The king, Matilda’s father was very ……………….. and the queen, Matilda’s mother was always ……………….. Matilda was the kind of child who never …………………… but always ………. Sometimes the king, the queen and Matilda would ………………… but they never ……………… All of them would sometimes go …………and Matilda would feel ……….. One day while walking in the magic forest, Matilda lost her way. She tried and tried to see if she could get back home to the castle. Matilda became ……….. After a while a wizard came hobbling along the path and told Matilda ………………… The wizard also gave …………. The first thing that Matilda did was ………. and she …………

Finally, after wandering around for a long time, Matilda recognised the path back to the castle. She hurried towards it but suddenly she came across a …………… Now she felt ………… As the sun was setting Matilda trudged through the castle gates and into the castle where the king and queen were very, very, very, …………..  Her father the King told Matilda ………… Matilda felt …………. So told the king and queen……………… It had been a very tiring day for Matilda and she fell asleep. The king and queen watched Matilda as she slept and thought ……………

The next morning Matilda woke up and said to her self “……………………………………………………………………….”