80 movement activities for preschoolers and kindergartners
Physical education is a critical part of every early childhood curriculum. Children need to move to channel their energies in creative, beneficial ways and to learn habits for lifelong health and fitness.
Preschoolers and Kindergartners Moving & Learning provides 80 developmentally appropriate activities that contribute to a well-rounded curriculum in any classroom or program.
The book contains
An updated introduction reflecting new research and trends in early childhood health and fitness and information on how movement benefits children’s learning and development
Twenty lesson plans, each with one body parts activity, one nonlocomotor activity, one locomotor skill experience, and one activity exploring an element of movement, for a total of 80 activities
Extension ideas and adaptations to use with children who have special needs
Curriculum connections for each activity and explanations about how activities are aligned with and meet early learning standards from NAEYC and AAHPERD
Original music to add joy and energy to the activities
Table of Content
Table of Contents
Activity Chart
Curriculum Connectors Chart
Song List
Preface
Introduction
Benefits of Moving & Learning
Implementing the Program
Preschoolers and Kindergartners: Developmental Considerations
Lesson 1
Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Let’s Bend
Let’s Walk
Exploring Up and Down
Lesson 2
Show Me
Let’s Stretch
“Walking Along Again”
Big and Little
Lesson 3
My Fingers
Bending and Stretching
Let’s Run
Bridges and Tunnels
Lesson 4
See My Hands
Let’s Shake
Creepy-Crawly
Making Shapes
Lesson 5
See My Face
Let’s Sway
Let’s Jump
“Pop Goes the Weasel”
Lesson 6
Simon Says
Let’s Bounce
“Rabbits and ’Roos”
Moving Backward
Lesson 7
“The Body Song”
Exploring Bending and Stretching
Moving Like Animals
“Moving Slow/Moving Fast”
Lesson 8
Mirror Game
Let’s Turn
“Marching Band”
Exploring Body and Spatial Directions
Lesson 9
“Hands-Hands-Hands”
Let’s Sit
Let’s Leap
“Moving Softly/Moving Loudly”
Lesson 10
“A Face Has Many Roles in Life”
Let’s Push and Pull
Let’s Gallop
“Marching Slow/Marching Fast”
Lesson 11
Switcheroo!
Let’s Strike
Follow the Leader
“High & Low”
Lesson 12
Body-Part Relationships
Let’s Lift
Shadow Game
“Robots & Astronauts”
Lesson 13
Traveling Body Parts
Let’s Swing
“Locomotion I”
Exploring Force
Lesson 14
Exploring Right and Left
Let’s Twist
The Tightrope
Exploring Movement Elements
Lesson 15
Exploring Weight Placement
In My Own Space
Let’s Hop
“Staccato/Legato”
Lesson 16
Counting Body Parts
Imitating Movement
Let’s Roll
“Getting Fast/Getting Slow”
Lesson 17
Arms in Motion
Let’s Focus
Let’s Slide
“Getting Louder/Getting Softer”
Lesson 18
Legs in Motion
Pass a Movement
Let’s Skip
“Common Meters”
Lesson 19
Body Halves Opposition
Dodging in Place
“Locomotion II”
“Different Strokes”
Lesson 20
Left Side/Right Side
Combining Nonlocomotor Skills
Combining Locomotor Skills
“Exploring Space”
References
Additional Resources
About the author
Rae Pica: Rae Pica has been an early childhood education consultant, specializing in children’s physical activity, since 1980. She is cofounder of the BAM! Radio Network, the world’s largest online education radio network, and host of Educators Radio programs
Body, Mind, and Child and
Teacher’s Aid, for which she interviews experts in education, child development, play research, the neurosciences, and more, on a wide variety of topics. Rae is the founder and director of Moving and Learning, a company offering services and materials related to physical activity for children from birth to age eight. A former adjunct instructor with the University of New Hampshire, she is the author of many books for early childhood professionals and parents. Rae has shared her expertise with such groups as the
Sesame Street Research Department, the Head Start Bureau, Centers for Disease Control, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Nickelodeon’s
Blue’s Clues, Gymboree, and state health departments throughout the country. Rae also served on the task force of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) that created national guidelines for early childhood physical activity, is a member of several advisory boards, and serves on the executive committee of the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International.
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