The Bossy Hoop Path

We lay out paths of colored hoops on the ground and each color is the boss of how you go through it: jump with feet together, tiptoe, walk around, or crouch inside. Children practice jumping and switching movements quickly based on a visual signal.

How to play

1. Set up two or three hoop paths and the teacher shows the cards: red, frog jump; blue, tiptoe; yellow, walk around it; green, crouch and touch the floor inside (2 min).
2. First trip very slowly, with the teacher beside each path calling out the colors (2 min).
3. Go along the paths doing what each hoop says, one after another, without catching up to the person in front (4 min).
4. Children help rearrange the hoops, and the path surprises us with a new order (3 min).
5. Return trip: go backward along the path, from the last hoop to the first (2 min).
6. Collect the hoops by color: everyone carries one to its color's pile (2 min).

Rules

• I wait until the person ahead is two hoops in before I start.
• Each hoop is the boss: I check the color before I go.
• If I make a mistake, I keep going; the path doesn't mind.
• When I finish, I walk back outside the path.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: travels beside the hoops and does an arm move for each color (reach up, touch, turn).
• Visual impairment: high-contrast hoop colors and a buddy who calls out each color.
• Less skilled children: hoops placed closer together and jumps holding the teacher's hand.

Learning goals

• Link a variety of jumps and movements.
• Switch actions using a color code.
• Wait their turn and keep a safe distance in line.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Colored hoops: 20
• Color cards: 4

Teacher tip

Put large cards at the start of each path so children see them as they set off. With more than six children per path the wait gets long: three short paths beat one long one.

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