Astronaut Training Camp

To travel to space, future astronauts go through training: heavy boots, floating bodies, capsule rolls and rocket jumps. It practices the contrast between tensing and relaxing and warms up the whole body.

How to play

1. The teacher is the commander and says: “Today we train to be astronauts.” Put on the helmet and suit with gestures (1 min).
2. Heavy-boots drill: walk very strongly, squeezing your legs and stepping with your whole foot, as if the boots weigh a ton (1 min).
3. Zero-gravity drill: when the drum plays softly, let your body go loose and float around, with floppy arms that drift up by themselves (2 min).
4. Capsule drill: sitting, hug your knees and rock side to side, then spin around on your bottom (1 min).
5. Rocket drill: crouch down small, count “three, two, one” and jump up with arms stretched high; five launches in a row, then rest (2 min).

Rules

• Loud drum, heavy boots; soft drum, we float.
• In the capsule, everyone rolls in their own spot.
• We all jump together when the countdown ends.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: heavy boots by squeezing arms and fists, floating by letting them go, and liftoff by raising the arms.
• Hearing impairment: teacher shows a closed fist for heavy boots and an open, waving hand for floating.
• Autism: present the training as a list of four pictures to check off.

Learning goals

• Tell the difference between tense and relaxed muscles.
• Warm up the body with jumps and spins.
• Respond to different sound intensities.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Hand drum: 1

Teacher tip

This is the perfect warm-up before “Astronauts Collect Moon Rocks.” The usual mistake is loud stomping in heavy boots, so ask for “strength inside your legs, not on the floor.”

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