Body Stamps: Up, Down and Sideways

Children walk among mats and, when the drum stops, lie down on the nearest one in the pose the teacher calls: on their back, on their tummy or on their side. They learn the basic body positions they will later use to roll and fall safely.

How to play

1. Spread the mats around the room and show three "stamps": back stamp looking at the ceiling, tummy stamp looking at the floor, and side stamp curled like a kitten (1 min).
2. Walk to the drum beat; when it stops, the teacher says "Back stamp!" and everyone lies down on a mat (1 min).
3. Keep going with tummy and side stamps, switching mats each time (2 min).
4. Now the teacher only shows a picture card or a hand signal, no words, and children guess the stamp (1 min).
5. Finish with a free stamp: each child picks a favorite pose and takes three slow breaths (1 min).

Rules

• Two friends per mat at most.
• We lie down slowly: knees and hands first.
• When the drum plays, we get up and walk.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: a child who can't lie down shows the stamp with their arms from the chair (hands up, down or to one side).
• Autism: post picture cards for each pose in view and keep the same order at the start.
• Hearing impairment: pair the drum with a raised arm for "stop" and the picture card for the pose.

Learning goals

• Tell apart lying on the back, on the tummy and on the side.
• Get down to the floor in a controlled way.
• Warm up while respecting other children's space.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Mats: 8
• Hand drum: 1

Teacher tip

Put out fewer mats than pairs so they share, but never fewer than half. The typical mistake is belly-flopping onto the mat, so teach them to put knees and hands down first.

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