Just want to see what kind of activities you usually have at your kindergarten gym class. Please list some stuff what you normally do at your P.E. class. Thank you very much !
I've seen K classes do the following... -play tag -Musical chairs -Ring Around the Rosie -Action Songs -Soccer -Basketball with a trash can as the basket Rebel1
Our K classes often do station rotations in the gym--scooter boards, large balls, scoops and balls, beanbags, balance on benches, etc.
Relay games with batons, balls, scooter boards. Throwing games with small ball pit balls. Games of Simon Does (like Simon says but they imitate my movements). Catch a ball in a cup (attached to a string) for hand eye. hula hoop games, throwing frisbees into hula hoops or other manipulatives like bean bags. Word games where they imitate animals that begin with the letter J or B etc. Do mulitiple commands on a whistle i.e. Jump three times, clap hands two times and turn around once. Hokey pokey, head and shoulders knees and toes (the Wiggles version) Can you point your fingers and do the twist (wiggles) Macarena. (still have the CD)
I just wanted to say that when I was in Kindergarten we did many of the things already listed, but we also did some other things that I think they would find fun. My PE teacher had a huge parachute that she would spread out on the floor and then everyone would grab a "corner," although there were not technical corners... Then we would shake it really fast and she would throw things on it like rubber chickens, then other times she would let every other kid run under there and run around for a minute or so then switch. She also had juggling scarfs that she had us try to juggle (basically we threw them in the air one at a time and grabbed the other, since they were so light it took them longer to come down). We also had sections with hula hoops were we could hula hoop or jump in and out of them. She also had a really long jump rope and she would sit backwards in a chair and have one student hold the other end (just hold it, not move it) then she would spin it and two students could jump for a little bit, then she would rotate and switch it out. We played duck duck goose as well. That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll remember some more later on and I will post them then. Have fun!
In addition to the above: Obstacle courses using playground equipment, cones, etc. They get some fitness running in and never realize it. Fitness stations where kids do various exercises and/or movements based on a picture at the station, such as gorilla walk, jumping jacks, bunny hops, toe touches, inchworm, etc. Fun stations with bowling, mini-tramps, hoops, foam balance beams, balance boards, tunnels, stompers/stilts, wood blocks, bowling, jump ropes, etc. I will show something like "Chicken Fat" once every month or two and let them exercise and sing along for 10-15 minutes then spend the rest of the time doing tag games, relays, scooter races, etc. My older kids (2nd and 3rd grades) love the Billy Blanks Tae-bo 8 minute workout. I'm not exactly sure why they do, but they do.
Jumping in late but my kinder kids love to run. About once or twice a month I have them run 800 meters timed to see how they do my fastest runners can run 1/2 mile is around 4 minutes. If we can't go outside we do warm-up runs around the gym to get them moving. They are speedy little boogers! People seriously underestimate PreK/Kinder kids and their endurance abilities!! Throwing and catching games work on hand eye coordination. Pick up a toy or ball and toss (teach the difference between throw and toss) back and forth 5 times then drop it and move to another toy/ball. If they drop it, then start over again. We have various tag games that help them learn about spacial awareness. Over, Around, and Under is a partner game where one person crawls under their partner who is in a bear position, runs around the person in a bear position, and then STEPS (not jumps) over with their partner who is in a crab position. I hammer locomotor movements from the very beginning. Skipping, galloping, leaping, side slide, hopping, hopscotch are all movements that are helpful. I use those movements during tag games and also during relay races. We do a sideline soccer game where half of the 75 kids play indoor soccer with soft balls and the others stand on the sidelines and kick balls back in the game that come to them. Talk about how only the goalie can touch the ball with their hands. We switch after a couple of minutes b/c I don't want them standing around too long. If you want other ideas, let me know. I have tons.
I teach Kindergarten, including PE, in a private school in Nigeria. Most of the kids have had very little experience with balls, games of tag, bicycles etc, things my generation grew up on.So I start very basic with ball handling skills, both hand and foot. We are blessed to have a parachute. We do basic tag games and duck-duck-goose. I'll do a "musical chairs" game using hoops instead of chairs. Hula hooping and frisbees are good too, and tee-ball (which they won't learn anywhere else; and you should see some of these kids try to cross their midline!!)
