Tap Messages on Your Back

Sitting one behind the other in a circle or line, children pass a rhythm message of gentle taps on the back from first to last, like a silent telephone game. Children practice feeling rhythm through touch and calming down.

How to play

1. Sit in a circle all facing the same way, each child with hands on the back of the child in front (1 min).
2. The teacher shows the taps: raindrops with fingertips, bear steps with a soft palm, and slow strokes (1 min).
3. First message: the teacher gives two taps on the first child's back and each child passes it to the one in front, exactly the same (2 min).
4. New messages: three raindrops, one bear, and one stroke, slow or a bit faster, and check whether it arrives the same (1 min).
5. Turn around and give the classmate who was tapping us a raindrop back massage (1 min).

Rules

• Taps are gentle, like raindrops.
• Pass the message just as you got it.
• While it travels, stay quiet.

Variations

Adaptations

• Autism or touch sensitivity: let the child receive the message on their hand or arm, or give it without receiving it.
• Visual impairment: this is a great fit; place the child in the circle like everyone else.
• Limited mobility: arrange the circle so the wheelchair user can reach the classmate's back or shoulder.

Learning goals

• Feel simple rhythms through touch.
• Reproduce a rhythm gently.
• Relax and take care of a classmate.

Teacher tip

Always ask first whether children are okay with having their back touched. Stress that the message is secret and silent: if someone talks, the message escapes.

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