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 kids 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.

Activity outline

Step 1.

Explain to children there are three areas for this game: ship, shop, and shore.

Each of these areas can be a line on the basketball court or designated by a cone. You might also like to put a big picture of each of these things so children can be sure of which is which.

Step 2.

The game works by yelling one of either ship, shop, or shore. Children have to run to the right space depending on what you yell.

For example, when you yell "ship", they have to move to the line (or space) that is the ship. Next, when you yell "shore", they have to move to that line.

You can yell the same thing twice in a row. For example, once children have moved to ‘ship’, yelling ‘ship’ again means they don’t move - but they might get tricked!

Step 3.

Once children have got the hang of the game, start to challenge them.

Really draw out your “shhhhhhhh”. Children will go crazy with anticipation.
Start throwing in some nonsense words. “Shhhhhhhamozzle”. “Shhhhhhhhlippydoodaa."

Step 4.

You can also start adding some creative thinking challenges.

“Shade” is an interesting one. Will children be confused that it’s not a word they’ve learned as part of the game? Or will they be able to find somewhere in the shade? Do they even know this word?
“Shed” is another interesting one. Do children make a roof over their head using their arms? Or do they run to an actual shed?

Learning is the understanding of experience to create more efficient mental pathways for similar challenges in the future. Students need to try new strategies when they’re stuck. They need to be equipped with a repertoire of approaches so that they approach challenges with confidence, gradually making headway and then using critical and creative thinking to blend strategies or try new ones to overcome the unknown aspects of the challenge. This builds resilience, perseverance, and good problem-solving skills for later in life.

Often, they will require input from an educator or adult to steer them towards a method or to positively reinforce their attempts. However, resist being the point of resolution for any disputes. The purpose of this game is to enable kids to effectively communicate verbally and to work together towards resolutions. That means the game can move fluidly as children find and follow the fun.

Find out more here.

Step 5.

Finally, you can also start inventing some new actions.

“Shhhhhhhine your shoes!” could mean children have to get down and rub their shoes.
“Shhhhhhhark!” could mean slapping your arms together like a shark’s mouth.
“Shhhhhhhhampoo your hair!”
“Shhhhhhhave your beard off!”

Have a go at inventing your own!

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.

Evaluation

Complete 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

Ship to Shore Running - Physical Movement Game

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Activity Details

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