Gentle Super-Strength Moves the Mat

Children discover that their super-strength only works when it's gentle and used together: as a team they lift, drag and carry a mat with stuffed animals on top without letting them fall. It builds arm and leg strength and group cooperation.

How to play

1. The teacher explains that our superheroes have gentle super-strength: strong with things, soft with people (1 min).
2. Test your strength alone: push the wall with your hands and legs stretched back, as if it's super heavy (2 min).
3. In groups of 6, stand around a mat, grab the handles and drag it to the other wall (3 min).
4. Add stuffed animals on top: move the mat slowly so they don't fall off (3 min).
5. Lift the mat together to waist height, count to three and lower it gently (2 min).
6. Thank your teammates with a careful high five (1 min).

Rules

• Super-strength is for things, never for pushing people.
• We all hold on and we all pull at the same time.
• If a stuffed animal falls, we stop and put it back.
• We lower the mat slowly and keep our feet away.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: be the "strength captain" who calls "Three, two, one, go!" or pushes the mat by hand from the wheelchair.
• Autism: join the smallest group with a fixed spot on the mat (always the same handle).
• Hearing loss: the start signal is the teacher's arm dropping, so everyone can see it.

Learning goals

• Use arm and leg strength in a controlled way.
• Coordinate effort with classmates to reach a shared goal.
• Tell the difference between strength with objects and gentleness with people.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Gym mats: 2
• Stuffed animals: 6

Teacher tip

Use light mats with handles and keep the path wide open. Before lifting, show them how to bend their knees and keep their feet out from under the mat: the typical mistake is dropping it on toes.

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