Movement Skill Activities for Preschoolers

A printable version of Movement Skill Activities for Preschoolers is available here
Kicking Activities
Kick at Targets

Equipment:  Balls and objects like buckets, empty bottles, chairs and hoops.

How to play:

  1. Arrange different targets around the space e.g. a bucket or basket on its side for children to kick into, a chair for children to  kick through, some empty plastic bottles for children to kick over like skittles, a hoop to gently kick into to.
  2. Have a small group of children at each target.
  3. Each small group is given a ball.
  4. Children then all have a go at kicking at the target in their small groups. Moving to the next target when they have finished.

Make it more fun: Use a craft activity to create ‘goals’ or target flags out of cardboard.

Watch, Step, Kick

Equipment:  1 balloon per child.

How to play:

  1. Ask children to pick a balloon.
  2. On ‘Watch’ children put their balloon the ground and focus their eyes on it.
  3. On ‘Step’ children place their non-kicking foot beside the balloon.
  4. On ‘Kick’ children kick their balloon.
  5. Children repeat a few times and then find a different coloured balloon.

Make it more fun:  Ask children to call out the steps or use an animal theme like ‘Watch like a Hawk’, step like a Tiger, kick like a Kangaroo’.

Are children learning how to kick correctly?

When children are doing these kicking activities look for/remind children of the first few steps in the kick skill:

1. Eyes focused on the ball throughout the kick

2. Non kicking foot placed beside the ball

Hopping Activities
Hopping musical statues

Equipment:  A CD player or music device.

How to play:

  1. Turn some music on and ask children to hop around the room.
  2. When the music stops the children need to freeze.
  3. Children can choose whether they freeze with one leg up in the hopping position or with both feet on the ground.

Make it more fun: Select a child each time to show a freeze position that everyone must do when the music next stops.

Rabbit Holes

Equipment:  1 coloured circle per child.

How to play:

  1. Give each child a circle, this is their rabbit hole.
  2. Have children choose a spot for their circle and stand on it (balancing on one leg).
  3. On the signal ‘Lunch time’ all children leave their rabbit holes and hop around the space.
  4. On the signal ‘To your rabbit holes’ the children move back to their rabbit holes as quickly as possible.

Make it more fun: Have some buckets of rabbit food for the children to collect e.g. green paper strips for grass, orange paper triangles for carrots etc.

Are children learning how to hop correctly?

When children are doing these hopping activities look for/remind children of the first few steps in the hop skill:

1. Non-support leg bent and swings in  rhythm with the support leg

2. Head stable and eyes focused forward throughout the jump

Leaping Activities
Islands

Equipment:  Hoops or masking tape (chalk for concrete).

How to play:

  1. Clearly mark out several island areas with the hoops, tape or chalk, making sure they are close enough together so children  can leap between them.
  2. These islands become the ‘safe’ zone. In between these islands are ‘freezing’ waters.
  3. Children leap from island to island trying to stay out of the water.
  4. If a child lands in the waters they must balance on one leg until someone safe tags them, they then re-enter the game.

Make it more fun: Change up the way the children can move e.g. hopping jumping.

Pit Stop

Equipment:  Markers, cones or masking tape for a track (chalk for concrete).

How to play:

  1. Set up the markers to form a race track.
  2. Organise children into groups of 4 and have them stand at the start line.
  3. On ‘Go’ one child from each group leaps out over the start line and runs around the track.
  4. On their return to their group they must leap back over the line and tag the next person. Repeat.

Make it more fun: Have each team create a team logo or wear a racing number made out of paper.

Are children learning how to leap correctly?

When children are doing these leaping activities look for/remind children of the first few steps in the leap skill:

1. Eyes focused forward throughout the leap

2. Knee of take-off leg bends

3. Trunk leans slightly forward

Rolling Activities
Roll Course

Equipment: Coloured paper and masking tape.

How to play:

  1. Create a number of targets out of coloured paper.
  2. Stick the targets to the ground in places of varying difficulty, some more simple and others harder e.g. around corners.
  3. Place a piece of masking tape as a roll line a suitable distance from each target.
  4. Give each child a soft ball and ask them to move through the roll course – standing at the roll line and seeing if they can roll
    their ball to touch the target.

Make it more fun: Children may like to create their own courses for one another or make golf flags to mark the target.

Tunnel ball

Equipment:  1 ball per team.

How to play:

  1. Children are organised into teams.
  2. Each team stands in a line, one behind the other, with legs stretched wide, forming a tunnel.
  3. The person at the front of the line turns to face their team and tries to roll the ball down the tunnel.
  4. The person at the end of the line picks up the ball and runs with it to the front and tries to roll it
    through the tunnel.
  5. Repeat. The winning team is the team to get back to their first roller first.

Make it more fun: Have the child running with the ball to the front throw the ball and catch it at least twice before rolling it

Are children learning how to underarm roll correctly?

When children are doing these rolling activities look for/remind children of the first few steps in the roll skill:

1. Eyes focused forward throughout the  roll

2. Steps toward the target area with foot opposite to throwing arm