Dip the Brush in the Palette
Hoops scattered around the yard are the paint blobs on a giant painter's palette. Children run around and, when they hear a color and a body part, they "dip" that part into a hoop of that color. They practice moving through space, paying attention, and naming body parts.
How to play
- We scatter the hoops and the teacher explains that they're the paint blobs on the palette (1 min).
- We walk around the hoops as dry brushes. On "Blue with your hand!" everyone finds a blue hoop and dips a hand in (1 min).
- Now we jog, and the teacher changes body parts: foot, elbow, knee, bottom (2 min).
- We add two parts at once: "Red with your hand and foot!" (2 min).
- To finish, we walk slowly and dip our noses into any hoop, as if smelling the paint (1 min).
Rules
- Lots of brushes fit in each hoop, so make room.
- Run around the hoops and only step in to dip.
- Dip carefully, without stepping on anyone's hands.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, use only hand and foot, and two colors.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, use all the colors and parts like elbow and knee.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, use two parts at once and different ways of moving between hoops (hopping, sideways).
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the child rolls up to a hoop and dips by touching it with a hand or a cardboard brush.
- Autism: start with few hoops and one color at a time, holding up a hoop of that color as you say it.
- Visual impairment: a classmate leads them by the hand, and the hoops stay in the same places.
Learning goals
- Recognize colors and move toward them.
- Place different body parts on the ground.
- Share the space while moving around.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Colored hoops: 30
Teacher tip
Put out more hoops than children to avoid squabbles. Say the color first, pause, then the body part, so they have time to think.
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