The Ceiling Comes Down

An imaginary ceiling slowly comes down, and children go from walking to crawling, belly-crawling, and lying flat; then it rises and they get up little by little. They warm up while exploring high, middle, and low levels.

How to play

1. We walk around with arms stretched up, touching the imaginary ceiling (1 min).
2. "The ceiling is coming down!": we walk crouched like little gnomes (1 min).
3. "Lower!": we crawl on hands and knees with a low back (1 min).
4. "Even lower!": we belly-crawl, then lie flat as a pancake (2 min).
5. "The ceiling is going up!": from belly-crawling to crawling, to gnomes, to giants (1 min).
6. We stretch way up to touch the ceiling and take a deep breath (1 min).

Rules

• I move depending on how low the ceiling is.
• When the ceiling is very low, my belly is on the floor.
• I move without touching my friends.
• When it goes up, I get up slowly.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the child shows the level with their arms (up high, at the chest, at the knees).
• Blind or low vision: the teacher gently taps the child's shoulder and names the level.
• More skilled: at the lowest level, they pull themselves with arms only, legs dragging.

Learning goals

• Warm up by moving between levels.
• Tell high, middle, and low apart.
• Get down to and up from the floor with control.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Hand drum: 1

Teacher tip

Lower your voice as the ceiling drops and raise it as it rises; it works better than any explanation. Kids tend to flop down all at once, so ask them to go down "like an elevator."

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