Hop Mountain

Children climb a pretend mountain made of hops: one hop, then two, then three… up to five, and then they go back down one hop fewer each time. It practices counting up and down while warming up the legs.

How to play

1. The teacher tells the story: we're climbing a mountain and every step has one more hop (1 min).
2. We jog around and, at the drum beat, do 1 hop; at the next beat, 2 hops; then 3 (1 min).
3. We keep climbing up to 5 hops, and at the top we shout "Hello, mountain!" with arms up (2 min).
4. Going down: 4 hops, 3, 2, 1, jogging gently between each step (1 min).
5. At the bottom we sit down and show on our fingers how many hops we did at the top (1 min).

Rules

• Hop with feet together and land softly.
• Count the hops out loud.
• Between steps, jog without bumping.

Variations

Adaptations

• Child with limited mobility: claps or heel taps instead of hops.
• Deaf or hard-of-hearing child: the drum beat comes with a raised hand and the number shown on fingers.
• Children needing more support: tiny hops in place, no traveling.

Learning goals

• Count quantities from 1 to 5, up and down.
• Match a number to a number of hops.
• Warm up legs and ankles.

Equipment for a class of 25

• pandero: 1

Teacher tip

Show the number on your fingers as well as saying it: many kids keep hopping if they can't see it. Remind them to land with soft knees.

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