Onion Layers for a Winter Playground
It’s freezing, so children put on layers of pretend clothes (T-shirt, sweater, coat, scarf, hat and mittens) and move to warm up; once their bodies are warm, they take layers off. It gets the body going and connects movement with warmth and bundling up.
How to play
- We arrive outside shivering: arms crossed, teeth chattering “ch-ch-ch” and little hops in place (1 min).
- Put on the pretend clothes layer by layer: T-shirt over the head, sweater stretching the arms, coat zipped from bottom to top (1 min).
- Wrap the scarf around the neck, pull the hat over the ears and put on mittens finger by finger (1 min).
- All bundled up, jog gently around the playground like hurried penguins, rubbing our arms (2 min).
- “Now I’m hot!”: take off mittens, hat and scarf and tuck them in a pretend pocket (1 min).
- Unzip the coat, take a deep breath and notice how warm and ready to play the body feels (1 min).
Rules
- Everyone gets dressed in their own spot, no pushing.
- We jog gently like penguins, not like rockets.
- When the teacher says “Hot!”, we stop and take off a layer.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, use only coat, hat and mittens, with the teacher dressing alongside them.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, do all the layers in order and add speed changes to the penguin jog.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, the teacher “forgets” one item and children must spot what’s missing before jogging.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: dress with arm gestures and do the jog by pushing the wheelchair or rocking the trunk.
- Autism: show the clothing sequence in pictures beforehand and respect it if the child doesn’t want to act out shivering.
- Visual impairment: the child jogs holding a classmate’s hand and the teacher names each item out loud.
Learning goals
- Warm up the body gradually.
- Connect moving with warming up.
- Learn the order for bundling up.
Teacher tip
Perfect for truly cold days: at cleanup time, have them put on their real coats in the same order. Usual mistake: rushing off before getting fully dressed; insist that the clothes come first.
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