Giant Steps and Ant Steps in the Sand

In the sandbox or a sandy area, kids walk leaving different marks: huge giant steps, tiny ant steps, and dragging feet that make tracks. It wakes up the legs and lets them feel how much harder it is to move in soft sand.

How to play

1. We step into the sandbox in closed-toe shoes and walk freely, feeling our feet sink in (1 min).
2. To a slow drum, we take giant steps, super long, and look at the footprints we leave (1 min).
3. To a fast drum, we take tiny ant steps, short and quick, all over the sandbox (1 min).
4. Now we're trains: we drag our feet without lifting them and draw train tracks in the sand (1 min).
5. We jump with feet together like kangaroos, then hop on one foot like flamingos, slowly (1 min).
6. We stop and look at the sandbox full of prints: we find one giant print and one ant print (1 min).

Rules

• In the sandbox, feet in the sand and sand stays down: no throwing.
• I walk without stepping on friends.
• When the drum stops, I freeze.
• If sand gets in my shoe, I say so and the teacher helps.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: play at the edge of the sandbox making big and small handprints, or on firm ground if the wheelchair sinks.
• Visual impairment: walk holding a buddy's hand and touch a big print and a small print at the end.
• Less balance: skip the one-foot hops and let them steady themselves on the sandbox edge.

Learning goals

• Adjust stride length to the cue.
• Wake up the legs on unstable ground.
• Connect movement with the print it leaves.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Hand drum: 1

Teacher tip

Check the sandbox first: no sharp objects or animal waste, and keep it covered when not in use. Wear shoes, since sun-baked sand gets very hot. Kids tend to run and kick up sand: remind them that in the sandbox we go slow.

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