Background information

Notes on child development

Play is crucial to the development of children’s gross and fine motor skills. Through play, children practice and perfect control and coordination of large body movements, as well as small movements of hands and fingers. Gross motor skills involve control of the arms, legs, head, and trunk. Fine motor skills involve the careful control of small muscles in the hands, feet, fingers, and toes. Controlling the muscles of the tongue and lips in order to speak or sing is also a fine motor skill. Find out more here.

Everyday moments can be fun learning opportunities for children. Pretending, creating and helping allows children to discover new things. Play helps children learn about themselves and where they fit in the world. Evidence shows that play can support learning across physical, social, emotional and intellectual areas of development. Find out more here.

Educator notes

Remind children that it is NOT a race. If the children continue to sprint between the lines without doing the correct movement, ask them to try again. Praise children who are taking their time to really think about the processes involved in each movement.

Activity outline

Step 1.

Ask the children to line up.

You might choose a certain line of a basketball court, from fence to fence, or just use some cones on the oval to mark the ‘start’ line. Or you don’t even have to have a line, you can just safely move around whatever space you’re in - although we do recommend being outside.

Step 2.

Show the children the ‘end’ line. Again, this could be a painted line already on the court or marked by cones. It should be roughly 10 to 15 metres away from the ‘start’ line.

Step 3.

Ask the children to run to the ‘end’ line.

Step 4.

Ask the children to run back to the start ‘line’. This is just the warm-up.

Step 5.

Now the real fun - ask the children to get to the other line stomping like a dinosaur. Make sure to demonstrate how to move your arms, bring your knees high to stamp down hard, and include plenty of roaring!

Step 6.

Now ask the children to get to the other line moving like a crab.

This is a good chance to interact with children’s imaginations and communication skills.

Asking prompting questions such as:

I wonder what a crab looks like?
I wonder how a crab move? Does it move like us humans (by walking forwards)? Or something different?

There's always an opportunity to be developing children's communication skills through casual conversation. To ask quality questions:

Position yourself as curious, about the world but also the child’s thoughts

Ask genuine questions (those that you don’t know the answer to - or at least be ready for an interesting answer based on a kids' perspective!)

Try to avoid judging answers as right or wrong

Using questions that begin with “I wonder…” is a great way to get kids sharing their own ideas; ‘I wonder…” questions don’t necessarily have a correct answer, leaving kids open to explore and share their own ideas without fear of being wrong.

Continue questioning after the child has answered, asking, “Why do you say that?” This further reveals a child’s thinking.

For more evidence-based advice on developing oral language in children click here.

Then make sure the children are squatting down, shuffling sideways, and getting those claws clicking up in the air!

Step 7.

Continue having children move between the lines using their bodies in different ways. Here are some fun ones to try:

hopping on one leg
hopping on the other leg
jumping like a kangaroo (feet planted together)
jumping like a frog (different! A frog gets down and uses their front legs to hop as well)
walking like a sloooooooooooow turtle
flapping your arms like a cockatoo (or any other bird)
slithering like a snake (or a lizard) right down on your belly
prancing like an emu (big exaggerated steps, hands folded behind your back like wings, bobbing your head)
jumping around like a cheeky monkey! (arms bent, fingers tickling your armpits, kind of bow-legged)
knuckle walk like a big strong gorilla (and don’t forget to beat your chest!)

Step 8.

Nominate some children to suggest their own animals or a certain way of moving. Doesn’t matter if you repeat a movement!

Having the words to engage in dialogue is a key part of oral language, with flow-on effects to comprehending and communicating using print. Vocabulary knowledge involves understanding the meanings of words and phrases, and using those words and phrases to communicate effectively (aka expressive vocabulary).
Deep vocabulary knowledge is often a source of difficulty for English learners, hindering their literacy development. Find out more here.

Step 9.

The game ends when everyone is too tired to keep moving.

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning, listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenge and persisting when difficulty arises
Wellbeing	Being involved

Move like an Animal - Physical Movement Game

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Activity Details

Curriculum Mapping

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