The Athletes' Locker Room
Children pretend they are getting ready in the locker room before playing: they tie their sneakers, put on knee pads and warm up each body part. It gently warms up the body and builds the habit of caring for it before sports.
How to play
- Sitting on the floor, the teacher explains that today we are athletes and first we go to the locker room: we tie our pretend sneakers with a double bow (1 min).
- Standing up, we put on our team shirt by reaching our arms up, and our knee pads by bending and straightening our knees (1 min).
- We wake up ankles, wrists and neck with small circles, copying the teacher (1 min).
- To the beat of the drum we leave the locker room: walk, jog gently and walk again around the whole space (2 min).
- We stop, take a deep breath like before a game and high-five a friend (1 min).
Rules
- We get dressed slowly, no rushing.
- When the drum stops, we freeze like statues.
- We jog without touching our friends.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, just sneakers, shirt and a short jog, with the teacher modeling every move.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, add knee pads, wristbands and ankle circles, and a child chooses what we put on next.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, each child says which sport they are getting ready for (basketball, tennis, track…) and the others guess from the movement.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: children in wheelchairs do the dressing moves with arms and trunk, and during the jog wheel or pump their arms to the beat.
- Autism: preview with three picture cards (get dressed, warm up, go out) and always keep the same order.
- Hearing impairment: pair the drum with a raised hand for stop and big clear gestures for each piece of clothing.
Learning goals
- Warm up the body step by step before playing.
- Identify joints such as ankles, knees and wrists.
- Build the habit of warming up before sports.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Hand drum: 1
Teacher tip
This works great as a fixed ritual for every sports session. Make the moves big and slow: the typical mistake is running out of the locker room before getting dressed.
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