Switch the Sky: Day to Night
Together, children fill a fabric sky with suns, and when the teacher announces nightfall, they swap the suns for moons and stars, carrying them across the playground in different ways. It practices running and moving toward a shared goal.
How to play
- Spread a piece of fabric at one end of the playground (the sky) and at the other end set two boxes: the day box with suns and the night box with moons and stars (2 min).
- Sunrise: everyone runs to the day box, takes one sun and carries it to the sky; repeat until the suns are gone (3 min).
- “Nightfall!”: everyone takes one sun back to its box and brings a moon or star, now tiptoeing as if it were night (3 min).
- Switch the sky between day and night again, trying new ways to move: hopping, crab walking, holding a friend’s hand (4 min).
- Sit around the night sky and look at it quietly (2 min).
Rules
- Carry only one piece at a time.
- Run in your own lane, no bumping at the boxes.
- The sky belongs to everyone: place pieces without stepping on the fabric.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, short distances, only running and walking, and the teacher helps with the swaps at the boxes.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, medium distances and different ways of moving.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, each star and moon has a number of jumps drawn on it to do when placing it in the sky.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: carry pieces on their lap or a tray and go a shorter distance.
- Hearing loss: show “sunrise” and “nightfall” with a big sun and moon the teacher holds up.
- Autism: preview with the sky drawn on the board, by day and by night.
Learning goals
- Run and move with a purpose.
- Work together on a whole-group task.
- Connect the sun with day and the moon and stars with night.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Laminated paper suns: 15
- Laminated paper moons and stars: 15
- Large fabric pieces: 2
- Boxes: 2
Teacher tip
Make the pieces big and laminated so they don’t tear or blow away. Keep the two boxes apart to avoid a jam: the usual problem is a crowd of kids at the same box.
PatioLab has "Switch the Sky: Day to Night" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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