Five Ways to Walk a Feeling
Children walk around the room in five different ways: happy, sad, angry, scared and calm. It warms up the body while they discover that every feeling has its own way of walking.
How to play
- Everyone walks freely around the space; when the drum stops, they freeze (1 min).
- Happy walk: little hops, arms up and a big smile, like going to a birthday party (1 min).
- Sad walk: feet dragging, droopy shoulders and eyes on the floor (1 min).
- Angry walk: big stomps, fists closed and a grumpy face, without touching anyone (1 min).
- Scared walk: on tiptoes, scrunched up, looking all around; then a calm walk, slow and breathing deeply (1 min).
- The teacher calls out feelings in random order and children switch walks as fast as they can; finish with the happy walk (1 min).
Rules
- Everyone walks in their own space, no bumping.
- When the drum stops, I freeze like a statue.
- Stomps go on the floor, never on a friend.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, use only happy, sad and angry, and the teacher always walks in front to be copied.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, use all five feelings and the teacher only names them without acting them out.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, a child picks a feeling and the others guess it from the walk before copying.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: a child in a wheelchair shows each feeling with speed, arms and face.
- Autism: keep a picture card of each feeling in view and hold it up as you say it.
- Hearing loss: along with the drum, hold up the feeling card to signal each change.
Learning goals
- Warm up the body with varied ways of moving.
- Connect each feeling with a way of moving.
- React quickly to a cue.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Hand drum: 1
Teacher tip
Overact every walk yourself: at this age they copy far more than they listen. For the angry walk, make it clear from the start that we stomp the floor and never push.
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