Tunnel To develop gross motor skills, encouraging children to crawl through the tunnel.
Materials:
Collapsible toy tunnel
Garbage can without top and cut out bottom
Large cardboard box
Large, empty floor space
Beginning: Sing “Ring Around the Rosie”
Middle: Students take turns at one end of the tunnel, while a teacher sits at the other making faces or noises encouraging the children to crawl through to get to them.
Earlier: Without a tunnel, getting the child to reach or look in the teacher’s direction during tummy time. Later: Students can encourage and play with one another, taking turns climbing through the tunnel.
End: The activity comes to an end when the children no longer express interest in the tunnel and crawl or walk away from it.
Follow-Up Ideas: The tunnel can be taken outside for the children to use, create an obstacle course causing them to have to walk/run around other objects before coming to crawl through the tunnel.
KDI: Moving the Whole Body
Dancing Follow the Leader Children can clap, shake, stomp to a beat of a song.
Materials:
Variety of children’s music
Speaker/ Radio
Large empty floor space
Beginning: Playing the music encouraging the children to move.
Middle: The teacher begins by clapping to the beat until the children are clapping too, and then changing each dance move, to the beat, until the children do the same and repeat.
Earlier: Teachers will clap their hands together encouraging them to move, observing any songs or movements they do take interest in. Later: Teachers can increase the speed at which they transition the moves.
End: The activity will only last for about 3-5 songs, but a new song can be used to transition into the next activity.
Follow-Up Ideas: The children can play “Simon Says” to a beat.
KDI: Steady Beat
Relay Races To improve fundamental gross motor movement
Materials:
Push toys
Large empty floor space
Plastic balls
Beginning: Having the children stretch or do a variation of stretching (i.e reaching as high as they can, touching their toes).
Middle: Have the children push the toys from one end of the playground or classroom to the other, encouraging an increase in speed and taking turns pushing with their classmates.
Earlier: Setting up balls every couple of feet, across the classroom, encouraging students to crawl to each one. Later: Take the children to run outside, taking turns with other students that want to run.
End: The activity comes to an end when the children no longer express interest in doing a relay style race or running.
Follow-Up Ideas: Create different objects and obstacles for the children to run while holding, like an obstacle course but racing one another.