Movement Story: The New Kid at School

The teacher tells the story of Lia, a girl who is new at school, and students act it out scene by scene with walking, jumping, and games. Students practice basic movement skills while learning to welcome, empathize with, and include newcomers.

How to play

1. Set up a cone path, a river of hoops, a forest of poles on cones, and an open area. Students hear the beginning: Lia has just moved from another town and knows no one.
2. Scene 1, the walk to school (3 min): students walk like Lia, slowly and looking at the ground; then as if she were happy, skipping and waving to everyone they meet.
3. Scene 2, the river (4 min): jump across the hoops holding hands with someone you almost never play with.
4. Scene 3, the forest (4 min): in groups of three, students go over and under the poles. One student plays Lia and the others show her the way.
5. Scene 4, recess (5 min): the class teaches Lia to play Steal the Bacon with mixed teams; whoever holds the handkerchief in the middle plays Lia.
6. End of the story (4 min): sitting in a circle, How did Lia feel at the beginning? And at the end? What can we do when someone new arrives?

Rules

• Listen quietly to the story and act when the teacher gives the signal.
• In the forest, do not jump over high poles: go under them.
• At the river, wait until the pair ahead has crossed.

Variations

Adaptations

• A student with limited mobility can narrate a scene or follow a jump-free path with a partner.
• For students with autism, show the order of the scenes with pictures beforehand.
• For fitter students, jump two-footed from hoop to hoop at the river and go through the forest twice.

Learning goals

• Travel, jump, and crawl following a story.
• Put themselves in the shoes of a new classmate.
• Practice welcoming gestures with classmates they rarely play with.

Equipment for a class of 25

• hoops: 12
• poles: 8
• cones: 16
• handkerchief: 1

Teacher tip

Read with an expressive voice and leave pauses for students to act. If you have a newly arrived student, do not single them out as Lia; let the role rotate.

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