Have a
ball or object that you pass back and forth. Before you pass, you have to
say something in a list: a number, a letter, a color, a musical instrument,
something they're thankful for, a song, a toy, a character from a movie,
something you can see, a sport, a type of transportation (cars, planes,
trains...), an animal... You get the idea. You can practice saying
a rhyme, verse, song by passing the ball back and forth and each person has to
say the next word before they pass it. Teach the game using a saying,
song or rhyme they already know.
Set up
a tricky way to pass some object to each other: around a chair, under a table,
down a blanket like a slide.
Do
simple games where there are two or three things they're supposed to act out,
and they must switch when you say the other thing: butterflies and
caterpillars; land, water, sky; hills, mountains, plains/fields; (incorporate
it into a story or lesson: grasshoppers and giants like the 12 spies'
perception when they spied out canaan);
Have a collection
of objects. Name them all together. Cover the kids' eyes.
Take one object away. Have them guess/figure out which one is
missing. Play again with a different missing object.
You can
do all sorts of things with a deck of cards, things for all ages. For
littles: 52 pickup; cards that are red; cards that are black; cards with faces;
cards with numbers; hand them one card and tell them to find one whose shape,
color, or number matches; have them practice counting by bringing you whatever
amount of cards you say (you'll probably have to help them count). Lay
numbers in order. You can lay the foundations for odds/evens, addition,
subtraction, division. I've had older kids bring me cards adding up to a
certain number - or just an odd number.
Train
to be listening: have a code word for the day. Any time the child hears
you say it, they come to you and either get something (cracker, M&M) or do
something (high five, hug).
Bat a
balloon or roll a ball across a line, no picking up. Also try kicking.
(Pre-soccer skill.)
Have
kids try to stand on one foot without holding on to anything. Count as
high as you can, out loud, until they put their foot down or touch
something. Now have them do it while doing something else, like singing a
song or patting their head or watching you do something silly.
With
more than one child, instead of "tag", do "bubbles" and
"poppers". Tag is too abstract. Tell them that once they
have popped, they switch roles. This works even if you want a number of
kids who are "it". In my experience, kids won't really switch;
they'll just pick their favorite role, keep doing that, and most kids will be
ok with that. The others will try to debate with fellow toddlers. It's
kind of hilarious.
Have
them balance something on their head. Then have them walk, or sit down
and stand up again (depending on how hard the balancing is).
Set up
a bucket or bag (or two for two teams; you can compete, too). Have the
child fill up the bag, bringing only one object at a time. (Use toys,
socks, cereal if it's a snack-size bowl.) Just make sure the container is
rather far away from the objects, so that the kid is using up a bunch of
energy.
Have
the child echo patterns of sounds or actions. Start small. Clap,
stomp, make some noise, wave...
Streamers
are super fun and cheap. Wave them. Use them as finish-lines.
Use them as lines to "balance" on. Or to divide a room.
Or as a maze line to follow on a treasurehunt. Pull off a strip and do
something with both you and the child holding on. If you let go or tear
it, you have to start over.
Teach
more basics of soccer. But break it up. Try not to put too many
rules together all at once. Have the child try to get a ball past you to
a specific wall or basket (using hands or feet or whatever - just can't be
holding on to the ball). Trade places and have them keep you from
getting the ball past them.
"Is
it the truth?" While you're playing, make statements whose truth or
falsehood is obvious. If it is true, the child stands up. If false,
they sit down. Or have them do some other fun action. If it's true,
they jump up and down... If it's true, they spin in circles. They
just have to switch once they hear the next statement.
This
one is from a book called "Let's Play!" that's decent for
ideas. It's for a group, not just one child. Form pairs and give
these directions: "touch feet" (kids touch their feet to each
other's), "touch wings" (touch elbows like wings), "tweet to your
partner". Then call out "scatter sparrows!" The
children flap like sparrows, tweet like sparrows, while they're either 1)
scattering and finding a new partner or 2) scattering, then listening for your
call to "touch feet" again when they must find a new partner.
Set up
an easy obstacle course... line up objects in one straight line with several
feet between each object. Have the child weave in and out between the
objects.
"Bowl"
with whatever objects are on hand: cups, books, toys
Pretend
you're in a parade. March. Wave. Bring a stuffed animal or
balloon. (Ever seen the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV?) Stay in
line and take a tour of whatever place you're at, all in parade mode. You
can even stop at an opportune spot and do a performance. Make sure to
pretend you have a microphone if you're singing!
Use a
paper plate as a frisbee.
Put
small stuffed animals or soft balls (cotton balls, q-tips, other soft small
objects you have are fine; raid your purse) on a large blanket or sheet (larger
keeps the things on it better, but if there are only 2 of you, it will have to
be smaller so you can hold it.) You hold one side. They hold the
other. Then wave it to see them pop.
Use a
ribbon, streamer, jump-rope, narrowly-folded blanket to make a
"river" in the middle of the floor. Jump over the river.
Throw something over the river. "Swim" under the river.
Play
hot potato.
Go to
sleep bunny, bunny. Say that. Have the child pretend to be a
sleeping bunny. When you think they won't be able to "sleep"
anymore, call "wake up, little bunny! hop, hop, hop!" They have
to get up and hop until you say to sleep again.
Again
from Let's Play!: Give the child an object they can toss in the air. Tell
the story of Jesus calming the sea. Then play the game like this: when
you say "Storm!" they toss their object up, over and over. When
you say "Be still!", they must grab their object from wherever it is
and sit down quietly.
Have a
bunch of something: crumpled up junk mail, socks, paper airplanes, little balls
like in a play-place (soft!). Split them up evenly. Make a line out
of a streamer, couch cushions, tape in the middle of the room. Put half
of the objects on one side, half on the other. Half of the children stand
on each side (or you on one side, the child/children on the other). Turn
on a song. While the music is playing, each of you throws as many of the
things over the line as possible, even the new things just thrown over your
line. At the end of the song, the side with the *least* objects wins.
Teach
hand signals for sports teams, like the referrees would use (I had to look up
on the internet how to do these). Show them. Say it. Have the
kids do the motions, and say the phrases, too. My favorite about this was
that for soccer instead of any signals, I just have the kids put their hands in
the air and run around like madmen yelling
"SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" They like that, too.
Be
active: gallop, toe-touch, jumping jacks, spin.
Set up
items with only 1 letter on them in different parts of the room. These could
be posters you make or those little blocks with letters on them. You
probably only want to do a few letters at a time. Call out the letter and
have the child hurry to go touch it. After they're good at that, teach
them one of the sounds the letter makes, and have them remember or repeat the
sound before they can leave and go to another letter.
Since I
was doing Awana, I taught the Cubbies how to stand with their toes behind a
line. I'd have them run, then say, "Line," and they had to all
get behind the line, not even touching it, quickly.
Take a
walk and announce a color. Say the names of things you see that are that
color. Encourage the child to participate. The next time you take a
walk, choose a different color. It's not guessing one item; it's just
identifying. It's like a preliminary to I-spy.
Kids
love bubbles. Blow bubbles for them. See if they can catch them
without them popping. See if they can guess where they'll land. You can also try to catch leaves blown from trees in the autumn.
To God be all glory.
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