Moving Day from House to House

Each hoop is a little house; when the teacher calls "Moving day!" children leave their house and travel to another one in the way the teacher says, and on "Visit!" they share a house with a friend. It warms up different ways of moving and practices sharing space.

How to play

1. Each child picks a hoop house and sits inside as if on the couch (1 min).
2. "Moving day!": walk out of your house and find an empty one; when the drum sounds, sit down (1 min).
3. Move house in other ways: like bunnies, like crabs, on tiptoes or crawling (2 min).
4. "Visit!": go to a friend's house, both step inside and say hi with a high five (2 min).
5. Last moving day: go back to your very first house and close the door with a "click" (1 min).

Rules

• I look for an empty house; if someone's there, I keep looking.
• On visits, I open the door and let my friend in.
• I move the way the teacher says, without pushing.
• When the drum plays, I sit inside a house.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: their house is a big hoop or two hoops together so the wheelchair fits, and friends come to visit.
• Autism: they may stay in the same house the whole time and receive visitors if changing is stressful.
• Hearing loss: pair the drum with a hands-together "house" sign for sitting down.

Learning goals

• Move through space in a variety of ways.
• Respond to signals to stop and go.
• Share a small space with a classmate.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Hoops: 25
• Hand drum: 1

Teacher tip

Put out a few more hoops than children so there's always a free house. If someone ends up without one, make them the "mail carrier" who walks with a friend so nobody is left out.

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