LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. To maintain a personal bubble of space while moving
2. To respond correctly to tambourine and musical cues
3. To imitate teacher-led locomotor and animal movements
4. To imitate animal sounds while moving like that animal
5. To perform each animal movement after hearing its name

MUSIC: "Happy Day" | Download

Get Moving (2 Minutes)

ACTIVITY: Warm-up

What You Will Need

• 4 cones
• Tambourine
• Music – "Happy Day"

Teacher: Who remembers what jogging is (take answers)? Jogging is running slowly. So let's get warmed up and jog in our personal bubbles until the music stops. 

Fly Away Birds Great jogging. Now who remembers what animal flies in the sky (take answers)? Let's fly away like birds (shake the tambourine once to cue the “nest” (squat) position). Once the children are squatting, shake the tambourine to cue the children to “fly away birds” (stand and resume jogging). Repeat a couple of times.

Animal Movements - Birds

Eagle: glide – arms outstretched to side and motionless while jogging.

Hummingbird: hover – elbows in against sides, hands out to the sides making rapid fluttering motions while jogging in place

Crow:  flap wings: arms outstretched to side and moving up and down while jogging (caw, caw, caw). 

Ostrich/emu: can’t fly at all. Forearms pressed in against the sides of the body, arms motionless while running fast.  

Nest: children squat with hands touching floor

Modifiers – slow, fast, high, low, straight path, crooked path

Benefits – arms, legs

Can You? (4 Minutes)

Activity: Move Like the Animals

Teacher: Ask the children if they think they can move like different animals. Ask them, "can you...

move like a crab? (Review all 3 directions of movement - hands first, feet first, sideways.)

Crab – Start from a sitting position with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, hands touching the floor behind the shoulders, and fingers pointing away from the body. Lift the hips as high as possible so the torso is almost flat like a table top. Once in this position, move in one of three directions – hands first, feet first, or sideways.

Modifiers: fast, slow,

Benefits: arms, shoulders, core

Expansions: leg lifts, leg extensions, carry bean bags on stomach and shake off 

jump like a frog? (Review big and small jumps.)

Frog - Start from a squat with hands touching the floor in front of the toes. Push off of both feet and jump forward landing in a squat again.

Modifiers - big jumps, little jumps, high jumps low jumps, many, few,

Benefits - legs

Expansions - frog jump contests, animal movement combinations (alternate frog/bunny)

move like a puppy? (Let the children know that this is a new animal movement.) Have the children imitate you. (Start from a weight-bearing position on all fours [hands and feet] and move forward by alternately lifting and moving hands and feet. Weight must be equally distributed on both hands and feet.)

Next, talk about how a puppy would move if it had a “hurt paw” on one of its back feet. Practice lifting either the right or left foot. Let the children problem solve and see if they can move with only 3 body parts touching the floor. Encourage them to imitate puppy sounds while moving.

Puppy - Start from a weight-bearing position on all fours (hands and feet, not knees) and move forward by alternately lifting and moving hands and feet. Weight must be equally distributed on both hands and feet. Let children practice moving slowly and then more quickly. Talk about how a puppy would move if it had a “hurt paw.” Let the children problem solve and see if they can continue to move with only 3 body parts touching the floor. They may choose whether to lift a hand or a foot for the “hurt paw.” 

Modifiers - fast, slow, forwards, backwards, sideways, straight path, curved path

Benefits - arms, legs

Expansions - switch the “hurt paw” to each hand and foot, animal combination movements (puppy/bear)

jump like a kangaroo? (Let the children know that this is also a new animal movement.) Have the children imitate you. (Stand erect with hands pulled in against the chest and elbows close to the body. Keeping arms in this position, push off from both feet simultaneously and give several small consecutive jumps. Each jump should propel you forward, backward, or sideways). 

Also practice these variations: high, low, big, small, fast, slow jumps.

Kangaroo - Stand erect with hands pulled in against the chest and elbows close to the body. Keeping arms in this position, push off from both feet simultaneously and give several small consecutive jumps. Each jump should propel the body forward.  

Modifiers – forward, backward, sideways, high, low, big small, fast, slow

Benefits – legs

Expansions – animal combination movements (kangaroo/pony)

Zoom In (5 Minutes)

Activity: Practice

Review using tambourine taps to cue jog forwards, jog backwards, hops and jumps.

Jog Forward

a slow run – alternating feet; toes pointed straight ahead with small, light, springy steps; arms relaxed and bent at a 90 degree angle, moving rhythmically with the feet.

Modifiers – fast, slow, big steps, little steps, straight path, crooked path, loud, soft, high knees

Benefits – legs  

Expansions – tag games, object searches, combination movements cued by tambourine taps

Jog Backward

Alternating feet, small steps, lift knees slightly, land on ball of foot first, and then lightly touch heel to the ground. Glance frequently from side to side and back over the shoulder to make sure there are no collisions.

Modifiers – fast, slow, big steps, little steps, straight path, crooked path, loud, soft, high knees

Benefits – legs

Expansions – combination movements cued by tambourine taps

Hop

Hop - Repetitive bounces on one foot. The word hop always means pushing off from one foot. Practice on each foot.

Modifiers - fast, slow, high, low, big, small, straight path, crooked path

Benefits - legs, balance

Expansions - combination movements cued by tambourine taps

Jump

Jump – Repetitive bounces on two feet. The word jump always means pushing off with two feet.

Modifiers – high, low, big, small, forward, backward, sideways, geometric patterns like in a circle, square, triangle, etc.

Benefits – legs

Expansions – kangaroo games, combination movements cued by tambourine taps

Slide - Introduce a new movement to the children, the slide. (Feet and shoulders face straight ahead while feet move sideways in a “step-together-step” motion. Arms are held out to the sides at shoulder height for balance and to indicate the direction of travel. If moving to the right, the first long step sideways is taken with the right foot (“step”). As the left foot closes next to the right foot (“together”), all the weight goes on the left foot and the right foot lifts off the ground as it extends sideways for the next long (“step”). This produces a small bounce. Eyes look straight ahead and chin is up. 

Cue change of direction (slide left, slide right) with a tambourine tap or shake.

Slide

Feet and shoulders face straight ahead while feet move sideways in a “step-together-step” motion. As the feet come together, the first foot comes off the ground, momentarily producing a small bouncing motion before that foot takes another long sideways step. Arms are held out to the sides at shoulder height for balance and to help indicate the direction of travel. If moving sideways to the right, the first long step sideways is taken with the right foot (“step”). As the left foot closes next to the right foot (“together”), all the weight goes on the left foot and the right foot lifts off the ground as it extends sideways for the next long (“step”). (This produces a small bounce). Eyes look straight ahead and the chin is up. Practice the slide going both to the left and to the right.

Modifiers – fast, slow, big steps, little steps, straight path, curved path 

Benefits – legs

Expansions – left/right directional movements cued by tambourine taps, combination movements cued by tambourine taps

Wrap-Up (3 Minutes)

Review animal movements by calling out crab, frog, puppy, kangaroo, or bird in any order. Gather for Celebration Huddle and Cheer - “1,2,3, God is number one. 3,2,1, moving is fun!"