Dance While the Sand Falls

Children dance and move while the sand in the timer falls, and stop as soon as it runs out, without anyone telling them. It works on feeling how long a minute lasts and linking time to something you can see.

How to play

1. Sitting in a circle, look at the sand timer: “While the sand falls, we dance; when it runs out, we sit” (2 min).
2. First round with music: the teacher puts the timer in the middle and everyone dances around, checking it now and then (2 min).
3. Animal round: while the sand falls, move like the animal we call out; when it runs out, fall asleep (2 min).
4. No-peeking round: the teacher covers the timer with a cloth and we dance; when we think it's over, we sit and uncover it to check (3 min).
5. Backwards round: while the sand falls we freeze like statues, and when it runs out we all dance at once (2 min).
6. Talk it over: is a minute a long time or a short time? What can we do in a minute? (1 min).

Rules

• I look at the sand before stopping.
• When the sand runs out, I sit without being told.
• We don't touch the timer: the teacher takes care of it.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: dances from a wheelchair or the floor with arms and trunk, placed near the timer.
• Visual impairment: a buddy taps their shoulder when the sand runs out; they can also hold the timer with the teacher when it's flipped.
• Autism: the sand timer is a great visual countdown; let them flip it for one round.

Learning goals

• Sense how long one minute lasts.
• Start and stop moving with a visual cue.
• Express yourself through movement to music.

Equipment for a class of 25

• 1-minute plastic sand timer: 1
• Music

Teacher tip

Put the timer up high, on a box in the middle, so everyone can see it. Kids often never look at it, so at first pause the music halfway and ask “How much sand is left?”

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