Strongmen Lift Bottle Weights

Children are circus strongmen using large bottles with a little sand as weights: they lift them, pass them hand to hand, and carry them around the ring in different ways. It builds arm and leg strength, safe lifting posture, and expressive movement.

How to play

1. We're circus strongmen: each child picks up their weight, a bottle with a little sand, and bows to the audience (1 min).
2. Lift it up and down slowly with both hands, making a big strong-face (2 min).
3. Pass the bottle from hand to hand in front of and behind the body, and under one leg (2 min).
4. With circus music on, walk around the ring carrying it different ways: hugged, on the shoulder, or with arms stretched out (3 min).
5. Grand finale: everyone invents a strongman pose with their weight and shows it while the others clap (3 min).
6. Take a final bow and put the weights back in their box (1 min).

Rules

• I bend my knees to pick my weight up off the floor.
• We don't throw or swing the weight.
• I leave space between me and my friends.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the child does the whole act seated, lifting the weight with the arms, with the final pose in the wheelchair.
• Less strength: use an empty or nearly empty bottle; the strongman pose is what counts.
• Autism: the final pose can be done together with the whole group, without stepping out alone in front of everyone.

Learning goals

• Build arm and leg strength through play.
• Use good posture when lifting weight from the floor.
• Express ideas through the body by playing a character.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Large bottles with a little sand: 25
• Music

Teacher tip

Keep each weight light, about 10 to 18 oz, with the cap glued on. The typical mistake is lifting from the floor with straight legs, so model an exaggerated "strongman squat."

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