Hoop Houses: Which Part Goes In?

Hoops on the floor are little houses. While the tambourine plays, everyone walks around; when it stops, the teacher names which body part goes inside: one foot, both hands, the tummy. Kids identify body parts and learn in and out.

How to play

1. Spread one hoop per child around the gym, spaced apart. Everyone stands outside the hoops.
2. Tambourine plays: kids walk between the houses without stepping on them. Slow beat means walk, fast beat means gentle jog (2 min).
3. The tambourine stops and the teacher says: "One foot inside the house!" Each child finds a hoop and puts only that part in (5 min, about 8 stops).
4. Make cues richer: "Both hands in and feet out!", "Only your head inside!", "Your whole body in, curled into a ball!"
5. Change: remove some hoops so two kids share a house. "One foot each inside!" (4 min).
6. Finish: each child sits inside a hoop and takes out the parts the teacher names, one by one, until they are outside (2 min).

Rules

• Don't step on hoops while walking.
• If someone is already in a house, find another or share without pushing.
• When the tambourine stops, listen before moving.
• Hoops stay on the floor.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: place hoops along the child's path; they can put a hand in or hang the hoop on the wheelchair.
• Hearing loss: show picture cards of the body part along with the spoken cue.
• Different skill levels: confident movers jump with feet together between hoops; others walk.

Learning goals

• Identify body parts from a verbal cue.
• Understand in and out using their own body.
• Move in response to sound signals.

Equipment for a class of 25

• hoops: 20
• tambourine: 1

Teacher tip

Set the hoops out before kids arrive. Few words, lots of gesture: say the part and touch it yourself. If energy climbs, go back to "whole body in, still as a ball."

More activities like this

More main activities for Elementary