Cat on the Roof: Bench Crawling

Students travel on all fours along gym benches, the cat's roof, with growing difficulty: forward, backward, sideways, and picking up objects. They practice crawling patterns, balance on a narrow surface, and arm and trunk strength.

How to play

1. 5 gym benches side by side with mats on both sides; groups of 5 per bench in a line.
2. Walking cat (3 min): bear crawl forward with hands and feet on the bench, knees off; walk back along the outside.
3. Scared cat (3 min): go to the middle, back up two steps, then continue to the end.
4. Sideways cat (3 min): travel sideways with hands on the bench and feet on the floor, then with all four limbs on top.
5. Hunting cat (4 min): spread beanbags along the bench; the cat picks them up one at a time with one hand and drops them on the end mat without getting off. The group counts how many beanbags it moves in 3 minutes.
6. Wrap-up (3 min): angry cat and happy cat stretch (round and arch the back) on the mat.

Rules

• Knees stay off the bench except in the easier version.
• Safety: one cat per bench at a time; the next goes when the previous one passes the middle.
• If you lose balance, step off placing your hands on the mat first.
• Pick up beanbags with one hand while the other three limbs stay down.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: travel alongside the bench in a wheelchair, moving beanbags from one end to the other.
• Visual impairment: place a beanbag at the start and end of the bench as tactile markers, with a partner alongside.
• Lower strength: do only half the bench each time.

Learning goals

• Travel on all fours along a narrow surface with control.
• Keep balance while changing direction.
• Strengthen arms and trunk using body weight.

Equipment for a class of 25

• gym bench: 5
• mats: 10
• beanbags: 25

Teacher tip

Put mats on both sides of every bench and don't let lines bunch up. Ask for a "tabletop back" with no sagging hips for quality crawling.

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