Activities
How can I add more active play in my child care program? Think about your weekly activity schedule. Add more active play to every day! Which of these activity ideas will you try with the 2- to 6-year-old children in your care? Put a check mark next to the ones that you will try next week.
Allow kids to roll, pass, or kick balls to each other. Play catch with a soft or bouncy ball.
Create an obstacle course. Children love to tumble over pillows, crawl through open boxes, and jump into hula hoops.
Set up relay races or jumping games. Dance to music or sing songs about what they are learning (for example: body parts, fruits and vegetables, or colors). Play tag, chasing games, “red light, green light,” or “musical frogs” (similar to musical chairs but with “lily pads” or pillows on the floor). Try noncompetitive games where all children play, instead of games where children wait to play or must be picked to participate.
Play Octopus Tag by drawing two lines at least 20 feet apart. When the “octopus” in the middle says “hungry!”, the other children (the “fish”) should try to cross to the other side while the octopus tries to tag them. When a fish is tagged, he becomes the octopus’s arm and has to hold hands with the octopus, working with him to try to tag the other fish. The last fish left wins!
Add fun to games by using pool noodles, beach balls, and hula hoops. Try Noodle Limbo, Cooperation Carry, or Musical Hoops. Visit www.headstartbodystart.org for ideas.
Set up a hula hoop game. With all children standing in a single file line, give the first child in the line one hula hoop to hold over his or her head. Children will pull the hula hoop down over their bodies to the floor, step out of it, and give the hoop to the next person in line