Riders Hop Along the Bench

Sitting astride the bench, kids are riders who move forward by placing their hands in front and hopping their bottoms toward them, to a walk or trot on the drum. It builds arm and trunk coordination and rhythm.

How to play

1. We mount our horse: sitting astride at the start of the bench, feet on the floor and hands on the bench in front of us (2 min).
2. At a walk: we put our hands a little farther ahead, lift our bottoms and bring them up to our hands, slowly (3 min).
3. At a trot: the drum gets faster and so do our hops, staying on the bench (2 min).
4. Whoa, horsey! When the drum stops, we stop and pat our horse's mane (2 min).
5. At the end of the bench, we swing a leg off and walk back to the line like tired horses for another ride (3 min).

Rules

• Hands always in front, on top of the bench.
• Each rider leaves two horses' room from the one ahead.
• When the drum stops, the horse stops.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: an adult helps them scoot by holding their hips, or they keep the beat on the drum for everyone.
• Hearing impairment: also show the beat by moving an arm up and down where they can see it.
• Less strength: half-bench rides with a rest to pat the horse.

Learning goals

• Coordinate hand placement with moving the trunk forward.
• Match the hops to a slow or fast beat.
• Stop moving on a signal.

Equipment for a class of 25

• banco sueco: 4
• pandero: 1
• colchonetas: 4

Teacher tip

Check that kids are wearing pants and nothing that can snag. The usual mistake is leaning too far forward: "rider's back, eyes on the horizon."

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