The Giant Snowball Travels on Our Feet
Lying on their backs in a row with legs up, children pass a giant snowball from feet to feet down the line without dropping it. It builds eye-foot coordination, core strength, and whole-group cooperation.
How to play
- Groups of six to eight lie on their backs on mats, side by side, close together (2 min).
- Lift the legs like “table legs,” and the teacher sets the ball on the first child’s feet (1 min).
- Move the feet together so the ball rolls to the neighbor, all the way to the end of the row (2 min).
- The ball travels back the same way (2 min).
- Very slowly, “so the snow doesn’t melt,” keeping eyes on the ball (2 min).
- Lower the legs and clap our feet for the snowball (1 min).
Rules
- Feet up when the ball arrives.
- Push it gently, no kicking.
- The ball is everyone’s: if it falls, the teacher puts it back up and we keep going.
Variations
Easier
Age 3: groups of four with the teacher guiding the ball by hand.
Standard
Age 4: a row of six to eight children without help.
Harder
Age 5: there and back without dropping it, and trying a lighter beach ball, which is harder to control.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the child sits at the end of the row, receives the ball with their hands, holds it, and starts it on the way back.
- Autism: a fixed spot in the row next to the adult and a heads-up before the ball arrives.
- Hearing impairment: the teacher points to whoever the ball is heading to.
Learning goals
- Control a large object with the feet while watching it.
- Strengthen the core while lying down.
- Cooperate as a group toward a shared goal.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Giant ball or exercise ball: 2
- Mats: 6
Teacher tip
An adult always walks beside the ball in case it rolls toward heads. Push the mats tightly together so nobody ends up in a gap.
PatioLab has "The Giant Snowball Travels on Our Feet" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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