Game: Hop In The Hoops

During this outdoor early childhood activity by Lisa C. children use gross motor skills.

Materials: Different colored hoops, an open area and drum or tambour.

Description: Let the children warm up in an open area.  Give the children different ideas for moving around - walk, hop, skip, run, walk sideways, run, backwards and so on.  Place lots of different colored hoops around the open space. Demonstrate to the children how to walk or run around without touching the hoops.  Intersperse these instructions with 'stand in groups of two in red hoops' or  'three people go into each green hoop' and so on.

Get the children to listen to the next instruction using a tambour, beat the drum or clap your hands, the children stop and listen for the next step. For example, put your hand in a hoop, put your foot in a hoop.  Make it more complex by adding colors and numbers. For example, put one knee in a red hoop, put four fingers in a yellow hoop and so on.

Comments: The children really enjoyed this activity and had lots of fun doing it.