Start Moving: Healthy Activities

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MOONGATE

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

Each child has a large piece of newspaper and places it on the ground. At a signal from the Leader, each child tries to tear a hole in the newspaper big enough for his body to go through without tearing the entire page of the newspaper.

FLASHLIGHT CALL

EQUIPMENT: flashlight

DIRECTIONS:

Have one child stand in the front of darkened classroom. The Leader shines a flashlight beam on different parts of the child standing before the group. When the light shines on the child’s arm, the group names it, saying, “Arm,” “Foot,” or “Head.”

BODY CALL  

EQUIPMENT: none

Directions:

The Leader calls out the following and the group supplies the ending:

• I see with my _________.
• I hear with my ________.
• I smell with my ________.
• I walk with my _________.
• I eat with my _____________.
• I think with my ________.

BODY COUNT  

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

The group faces the Leader and follows commands such as:

• Have three parts of your body touch the ground (two feet and one hand).
• Make five parts touch (two hands, two feet, one knee).
• Have only one part touching. (Stand on one foot.)

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

Children choose a partner. Both have to follow the commands of the Leader.

• Feet to feet.
• Back to back.
• Shake right hands.
• Face each other.
• Right shoulder to right shoulder .

ROBOT  

EQUIPMENT: none   

DIRECTIONS:

Children pair off. One child is the Robot, the other the Master Controller. The Controller gives the Robot instructions such as, “Walk three steps and turn around. Raise your right hand. Now put your right hand on your left ear.” After a reasonable length of time, they exchange, and the Robot becomes the Controller.

BEAN BAG HOLD  

EQUIPMENT: bean bag for each child

DIRECTIONS:

Children are instructed to try to figure out as many ways as possible to hold a bean bag!

• On back of right hand 6. Other ways….
• Top of head
• Behind left knee
• Under right arm
• On left foot

PACE ROLL   

EQUIPMENT: large ball

DIRECTIONS:

Six children line up even with the Leader, and when the Leader rolls the ball they try to stay even with the ball as it rolls.

ESTIMATION

EQUIPMENT: bean bags

DIRECTIONS:

Children stand behind a restraining line and toss their beanbags out in front of line. Each child then makes an estimate of how many steps he/she thinks it will take to walk to his/her beanbag. Variations may include estimates as to how many hops it will take.

MAIL BOX EQUIPMENT: a box and index cards

DIRECTIONS:

Various tasks are printed on cards dropped in a box. Children draw out cards and perform the task indicated. Tasks may be touching three different colors, standing in front of three different persons, singing a song, or doing a dance.

ALPHABETIZING

EQUIPMENT: large cards

DIRECTIONS:

Each child is given a card bearing a letter of the alphabet. At the Leader’s signal they scatter. At the next signal they line up in proper sequence from A to Z. The leader may also call out such easy words as DOG, or CAT, and children having those letters come out and form the word.

THINK

EQUIPMENT: tennis ball

DIRECTIONS:

Each child is given a tennis ball and told to:

• Bounce ball along lines on playground.
• Toss ball in air, clap hands, and catch.
• Explore various ways a tennis ball can be held-hand, back of hand, between knees, under chin.

CLOTHES LINE

EQUIPMENT: green, blue, red, yellow clothes pins and a

clothes line or string

DIRECTIONS:

The group is divided into two lines. The assorted colored clothes pins are scrambled on the floor and at signal from the Leader a person from the one line must place all the red and blue clothes pins on the line, one at a time, while a person from the other line places the green and yellow pins on the line. The first team to finish wins.

COLOR GRAB

EQUIPMENT:

variously colored pieces of construction paper

DIRECTIONS:

The group stands in a circle and each child is given a color: red, green, blue, or yellow. Pieces of paper in the same colors are placed in center of circle. When “their” color is called, children having that color must walk to the center of the circle and secure a paper of that color, then return to place in the circle. The first one back wins.

DIFFERENT

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

Children select a partner and each tries to do the opposite of each other in their actions:

• If one partner walks heavy the other walks light.
• If one partner walks fast, the other walks slowly.
• If one partner walks forward, the other walks backward.
• Try other variations.

STAND BY

EQUIPMENT: plastic bottles

DIRECTIONS:

Various plastic bottles are placed about the play area, one bottle for each child. The children are then told to:

• Walk around the bottle to the right, then to the left.
• Jump over the bottle with both feet.
• Go to the bottle on the right and walk around it, then return to place.
• Repeat #3 to the left.

WEATHER VANE

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

Directions-north, south, east, and west-are pointed out to the children; then they are asked to run four times in place as they face each of the four directions.

FOOT KICK

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

Walking around an area, children kick up left and clap both hands under raised left foot as they walk, and under the right foot as they kick right. For added emphasis have them say “Right,” then “Left,” as they clap hands.

STOP LIGHT

EQUIPMENT: one red, one green, one yellow object

DIRECTIONS:

Three objects, one red, one green, one yellow, are placed on the ground three feet apart. The children are then directed to:

• Stand in back of the color that says “Go.”
• Stand in back of the color that says “Stop.”
• Stand in back of the color that says “Caution.”

TRAFFIC BOTTLES

EQUIPMENT: 12 plastic bottles

DIRECTIONS:

Various plastic bottles are placed around an area. All children must run around each bottle. The first one to do so returns to the starting line and is the winner.

EQUIPMENT: bean bag

DIRECTIONS:

Each child places a beanbag on his head, and then walks around the room, between desks, not touching other students or objects in the room. Vary by sideways and backwards.

HERE-THERE-WHERE

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

• When the Leader says “Here,” the children gather around the Leader.
• When the Leader says “There,” the children go to the place the Leader is pointing.
• When the Leader says “Where,” the children go to any place they want to go.

SPACE CONCEPTS

EQUIPMENT: bicycle tire

DIRECTIONS:

Using a bicycle tire for each child, have them:

• Crawl through tire.
• Step in tire.
• Step out of tire.
• Hold tire in back of them.
• Try other combinations.

TIRE HOPPING

EQUIPMENT: bicycle tire

DIRECTIONS:

Child steps inside a bicycle tire, or circle drawn with chalk, and hops on right foot as long as possible without the left foot touching the ground or right foot getting outside the circle.

TIRE LANE

EQUIPMENT: several bicycle tires

DIRECTIONS:

Place several bicycle tires in a line and hop down them on right foot; on the return trip, hop on the left foot. Alternate hopping on left then right foot.

EQUIPMENT: chalk

DIRECTIONS:

Each child is given a piece of chalk and told to draw a large triangle. He/she must then walk, hop, and then run, around the triangle in turn. Other geometric shapes, numbers, and letters may also be used.

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

Leader calls out at a rapid rate the names of various parts of the body. When a name is called, the group points to that part as quickly as possible. Start out with arm, elbow, ear, then add another dimension: right arm, left elbow, and right ear.

EQUIPMENT: none

DIRECTIONS:

All the children assume the position of a Snowman. When the Leader calls out commands, everyone responds.

• Right hand-melt!
• Left hand-melt!
• Right foot-melt!
• Head-melt!

EQUIPMENT: a hat and a deck of cards

DIRECTIONS:

A hat is placed on the ground on the ground ten feet away from children. Each child is given a certain number of cards to toss at the hat. The one getting the most cards in the hat is the winner. Children may alternate tossing at the hat, or several hats may be used.

BEAN BAG TOSS

EQUIPMENT: bean bag for each child

DIRECTIONS:

Each child tosses his/her beanbag up in the air and claps hands, then tosses the beanbag up in the air and slaps legs with both hands before catching it. Difficulty and complexity of task should be increased as child increases in ability.

BOUNCE

EQUIPMENT: blanket and stuffed animal

DIRECTIONS:

The group holds a large blanket, and the Leader places a stuffed animal in the center. The Leader then says, “Start!’ The children flip the stuffed animal up in the air as high as possible, and then try to catch it in the blanket as it comes down. Count how many times the group can flip the stuffed animal up in the air and catch it successfully.

EQUIPMENT: colored paper

DIRECTIONS:

A child is told to:

• Place various colored pieces of paper about the outside edge of a circle
• Stand in the center of the circle and follow directions of Leader, such as:

“Jump out of the circle over the color blue, then jump back in over green.”

Provided by the Martin/Pit Partnership for Children
Smart Start - Child Links

Developed for Health & Wellness FitTogether