Paper Ball Road Trip
Lying on their tummies, children blow a big paper ball along a tape road on the floor with curves, bridges, and a garage at the end. It works on breath control, aiming, and moving by crawling on the belly.
How to play
- Each child scrunches a sheet of newspaper into a ball the size of their fist: it's their car (2 min).
- The teacher shows the roads taped on the floor (two parallel lines) and the garage at the end, which is a hoop (1 min).
- First trip down the straight road: lying on their tummies, they blow the ball and army-crawl behind it to the garage (3 min).
- Second trip down the curvy road: they blow softly on the curves to stay on the road and hard on the straight parts (3 min).
- Free trip: they pick a road, and if the ball goes off, they put it back on and keep going (2 min).
- Everyone parks their car in the garages and lies still, breathing slowly (1 min).
Rules
- My car moves only with my breath, no hands.
- If it goes off the road, I put it back with my hand and keep going.
- I wait for the child ahead to move a bit before I start.
- It's not a race: we all get to the garage.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, a wide straight road, and they can crawl on hands and knees instead of on their bellies.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, a road with two or three gentle curves.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, a narrow road with curves and a tunnel (a chair) to go through without the ball touching the legs.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: tape the road on a table and the child blows while seated.
- Visual impairment: make the road with ropes or pool noodles they can feel, and use a foil ball that crinkles as it moves.
- Weaker blowing: a smaller, lighter ball (tissue paper) or blowing through a wide straw.
Learning goals
- Aim their breath at an object to move it along a path.
- Adjust how hard they blow for curves and straight parts.
- Move by belly crawling with coordination.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Newspaper: 25
- Masking tape: 2
- Hoops: 6
Teacher tip
Set up the roads before the kids come in; different tape colors make it easy to say "you take the red one." Make the balls big and tightly packed, because small ones end up in mouths.
PatioLab has "Paper Ball Road Trip" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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