Do you find that besides the wonderful Valentine’s crafts, you could use an idea for some physical activity? Here’s a fun game with lots of actions and movement that also helps with kindergarten readiness. It was inspired by the need to use up some energy on a winter day when we could not go outside. It even includes hugs.
To start, grownups can ask the questions; kids can answer and do the actions. Using any animals you can think of, ask kids what a particular animal loves to do. For example:
Q. What do bunnies love? A. They love to hop.
Now, kids get to hop around like a bunny. Hop on 2 feet, on each foot, big hops, little ones, etc.
Q. What do kangaroos love? A. They love to jump.
Kids can jump as far as they can like kangaroos. We used the hallway for taking big jumps.
Q. What do birds love? A. They love to fly.
For flying, we could fly around the furniture, as long as we slowed down.
Q. What do fish love? A. They love to swim.
Again, the hallway floor worked well for a swimming space.
Q. What do worms love? A. They love to wriggle on the ground.
This needs less space, plus the worms can wriggle under the chairs, behind the sofa, and other places.
Q. What do dogs love? A. They love to fetch.
For this one, stand near the toybox and have kids fetch the toys that need to get picked up. Clever, don’t you think?
You can add in some other tricks, as in: What do washing machines love? They love to wash the clothes, so gather up the baskets and start the laundry. What do dishwashers love? They love to wash dishes, so load up the dishwasher. What do brooms love? They love to sweep.
And the two best are saved for the last.
Q. What do I love? HUGS! For more than 1 or 2 kids, this can be a big group hug.
Q. What do cats love? A. They love to curl up and snooze, z..z..z.
What do brains love? They love sharing books. What do bodies love? They love to exercise. What do kids love? Fun and play. Q. Do you love this anytime movement game? A. (your answer) _.