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
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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, Animal Stories, Drama, Drama Activities for children, Drama for children, drama for kids, English as a second language, Esl, Esl Drama, expressive arts, Fairy Tales, Panchatantra plays, Storytelling, Storytelling in the Early years, Storytelling techniques

The Three Billy Goats Gruff -A Movement Story

Each child finds a space and sits down. Each child or a group of children are assigned a specific word and a corresponding action. The narrator/teacher reads the story aloud, and when the children hear their word, they must jump up and do their actions. The words are in bold to assist the teacher.

Movement: Action.

Billy goats gruff: Move like a goat and say triplet trip.

Bridge: Two children face each other; they place their arms over their heads and link their fingers together.

Troll: Roar and make an ugly face.

Smallest: Make your body as small as you can.

Middle-sized: Stand up straight.

Bigger/Biggest: Stretch your hands up in the air as high as you can.

Meadow: Get down on your hands and knees and graze on the grass.

Hungry: Rub your tummy.

Brother: Two children link arms.

Brothers: Three children link arms.

Eat: Mime gobbling food.

Narrator: Once upon a time, there lived three billy goats gruff. They spent every winter in a barn that kept them nice and warm. But when the summer came, they liked to trippety trip over the bridge to the beautiful green meadow on the other side of the river. “I’m really hungry. I think I will cross the bridge to eat some lovely green grass in the meadow,” said the smallest billy goat gruff.

What the billy goats gruff didn’t know was that under the bridge, there lived an ugly troll. The troll was nasty and horrible.

Nobody crossed the bridge without the troll’s permission, and he never gave permission.

“I can’t wait to get to the meadow,” said the smallest billy goat gruff. “Who is that trippety tripping over my bridge?” roared the troll.

“Oh, it’s only me. Please let me pass. I only want to go to the meadow to eat some sweet grass,” pleaded the smallest billy goat gruff.

“Oh no, you are not. I’m going to eat you,” said the troll.

“Oh, no, please, Mr. Troll, I’m only the smallest billy goat gruff. I’m much too tiny for you to eat, and I wouldn’t taste very good. Why don’t you wait for my brother, the middle-sized billy goat gruff? He is much bigger than I am and would be much tastier,” said the smallest billy goat gruff.

“Well, I suppose I could wait,” the troll said with a sigh.

“I think I will join my brother on the meadow and eat some lovely lush grass,” mused the middle-sized billy goat gruff.

“Who is that trippety tripping over my bridge?” roared the troll.

“Oh, it’s only me. Please let me pass. I only want to go to the meadow to eat some sweet grass” said the middle sized billy goats gruff.

“Oh no, you are not. I’m going to eat you,” bellowed the troll.

“Oh, no, please, Mr. Troll, I’m only the middle-sized billy goat gruff. I’m much too tiny for you to eat, and I wouldn’t taste very good. Why don’t you wait for my brother, the biggest billy goat gruff?” He is much bigger than I am and would be much tastier,” pleased the middle-sized billy goat gruff.

“Well, I suppose I could wait,” the troll said with a sigh.

“I am alone and hungry. I will join my brothers in the meadow and get some nice and sweet grass to eat,” said the biggest billy goat gruff.

“Who is that trippety tripping over my bridge?” roared the troll.

“Oh, it is only me. Please let me pass. I only want to go to the meadow to eat some sweet grass,” said the biggest billy goat gruff.

“Oh no, you are not. I’m going to eat you,” bellowed the troll.

“That’s what you think!” shouted the biggest billy goat gruff angrily. He lowered his horns, galloped along the bridge and butted the ugly troll. Up, up, up went the troll into the air. Then down, down, down into the rushing river below. He disappeared below the swirling waters. “That taught him a lesson,” said the biggest billy goat gruff. He continued across the bridge and met with his brothers, and they ate grass and played for the rest of summer.

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Posted in Drama for children, Movement activities, Movement stories for children

Movement Story -Adventure in Space

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Adventure in Space

Resources needed: Clear space, balloons, flags, and objects for the moon (optional).
Introduction: Tell the children that they are going to become astronauts. Explain what an astronaut is or show them pictures of an astronaut in space. An astronaut is a person who is trained to travel in space. Discuss some interesting facts about astronauts with the children.

Ten interesting facts about astronauts:
• Yuri Gagarin was the first man to travel in space in 1961. He was Russian. His space shuttle was called “Vostok 1.”
• John Glenn was the first American to travel in space in 1962. His space shuttle was called “Friendship 7.”
• Laika, a stray dog trained by the Russians, was the first living thing to go into space. Unfortunately he died a few hours after launch. Ham, the chimp, was the first animal taken into space by an American astronaut. He arrived safely back to earth after 16 hours in space.
• In space you float because there is no gravity. The inner ear doesn’t need to keep you balanced. When astronauts come back from space they are very clumsy.
• In space, there is no gravity to weigh you down so your spine stretches and relaxes, and the astronaut can grow up to 5cm. or 2 inches.
• In space the sun rises every 90 minutes.
• Astronauts in space can see other planets without a telescope.
• In space it is not possible to breathe air normally. The space suits have oxygen attached to them to help astronauts breathe when they are outside the space shuttle.
• The longest time an astronaut has spent in space is 2 years and 73 days.
• Astronauts have to sleep in buckled bunk beds. If they are not strapped to the bed they will float when they are asleep, as there isn’t any gravity.

The teacher discusses with the children that they are going to go on a special mission to space. Ask for suggestions for the name of their space shuttle. Ask them how they will move in space as there is no gravity. They must move in slow motion with their space suits. Get the children to practice moving around the room very slowly. Get them to jump up and down in slow motion. Once they are used to the slow movements, the story can begin. The teacher will be the pilot.

Pilot: Astronauts, this is space shuttle (name of the space shuttle). My name is (pilot’s name). I am your pilot for this important top-secret space mission. (All the astronauts walk on to the shuttle and take their positions on the floor.) Welcome on board the (name of the space shuttle). Our flight time will be (time) and we will be flying at an altitude of (altitude), at a speed of (speed). At this time all electronic devices must be switched off or set to space shuttle mode. (All the astronauts take out their devices and mime switching them off.) Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. (The astronauts lie on the floor with their feet in the air.) Astronauts, please prepare for blast off. Everybody count down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF. (Everybody count from 10 to 1 and creates a loud explosive sound.) Keep your seat belts on as there is a lot of turbulence. (Astronauts are shaking from side to side while fastening their seats.) We have reached a height of (height). The seat belt sign has been switched off. (The astronauts take off their seat belts, and because there is no gravity they start moving in slow motion and imagine that they are floating. They go forwards and backwards, up and down, side to side as they look out of the windows.) Astronauts, due to a technical problem with the space shuttle we have to make an emergency landing on the moon. Everyone, please take your seats as quickly as possible. (The astronauts sit back in their seats and put their seat belts on.) Everyone hold on tight. (They make an emergency stop and they all go forward and backward.) We are going to be stuck on the moon until we manage to fix the technical problem with the space shuttle. If you would like, you can put on your space suit and go for a walk on the moon. (The astronauts put on their space suits.) Remember to use your oxygen masks. (Everyone puts on their oxygen mask.) You have to move slowly on the moon because you don’t want your space suits to burst open. (They all get off the rocket carefully.) Everyone take your time going down the space shuttle steps. Hold on tight. Now that we are on the moon we should put our country’s flag on the moon. We should all take something from the moon as a souvenir. (Astronauts move around the room carefully and slowly and they mime picking up something and putting it in their space suit pocket.) Oh, look, it is a meteorite. (Teacher throws a balloon in the air which represents a meteorite.) Astronauts, we must make sure that the meteorite doesn’t hit the moon as it will cause a crater. (The astronauts try to keep the balloon from hitting the floor. They work together. The teacher can keep adding meteorites or balloons until they start to drop on the floor and cause craters.) It has turned into a meteorite shower and it is getting worse, and we have to run to the rocket to take cover. (They run as fast as they can in the space suits. Remember they can burst them if they run too fast. They all climb the stairs and get back into the rocket.) Welcome abroad. Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts. (They lie on the backs with the feet up.) Count down begins 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off. (They count down and make the sound of the engine taking off. They slowly begin to sit up as the rocket levels off and is floating through space.) The seatbelt sign has been switched off. Everyone look out the window. Remember what you see so you can tell everybody on Earth. (The children take off their seatbelts and look out the window.) Astronauts, it is time to return to Earth. Everyone fasten your seatbelts. I hope you enjoyed this space flight and will join us again in the future. (They land safely and everyone alights from the space shuttle.)

Closure: The children sit in a circle. One by one they take out their souvenir from the moon and explain what it is, what it looks like, or what it feels like? Each child says what they saw or experienced in space.

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