The House of Silly Appliances
Children become the appliances in a house that turn on by themselves: the spinning washer, the popping toaster, the shaking blender and the freezing fridge. It warms up the body by switching between spinning, jumping, shaking and holding still.
How to play
- The teacher introduces the house and models each appliance with its sound: washer, toaster, blender and fridge (2 min).
- Washer: we turn slowly in place with our arms as the drum and go a little faster on the spin cycle; we stop and switch directions (1 min).
- Toaster: crouched down we heat up, and when we hear “Pop!” we jump up like toast (1 min).
- Blender and fridge: on “blender” we shake our whole body, and on “fridge” we freeze; the teacher keeps switching (2 min).
- Power's out! All the appliances slowly shut down until they're lying on the floor (1 min).
Rules
- Each appliance moves its own way.
- I spin in my own spot with my arms open, not touching anyone.
- In the fridge, I freeze.
- When the power goes out, I shut down slowly.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, only washer, toaster and power outage, with the teacher modeling.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, all four appliances, switching back and forth.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, add the hair dryer (head and arms blowing) and the microwave (slow turns with a beep at the end), and call them out faster.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the washer spins just the arms, and the toaster is a big arm stretch upward.
- Autism: preview with appliance pictures and give a heads-up before the outage; if spinning is too much, they can be the fridge while others spin.
- Poor balance: the washer walks in a small circle instead of turning fast in place.
Learning goals
- Warm up with spinning, jumping and shaking movements.
- Go from moving to stillness with control.
- Represent objects with the body.
Teacher tip
Keep spins to a few turns and always switch directions so no one gets dizzy. The sounds (the “pop,” the “brrrr”) are what hooks them, so have everyone make them.
PatioLab has "The House of Silly Appliances" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More warm-ups for Elementary
«Ahora que Vamos Despacio»: The Silly-Fibs Stroll
We stroll very slowly singing the traditional Spanish song «Ahora que vamos despacio» («Now that we're going slowly, let's tell some fibs»), and on each «tralará» we…
«El Cocherito Leré»: The Hopping Carriage
We're carriages trotting around the yard, and on every «leré» in the traditional Spanish song «El cocherito leré» («the little coachman») we jump with feet together.
«Sal de Ahí, Chivita»: The Get-Out-Little-Goat Chain
The little goat won't leave the field, so in this traditional Spanish cumulative song we call the wolf, the dog, the stick, the fire, the water and the ox.
A Bandage Where I'm Tagged
A few children tag holding a scarf; anyone tagged puts on a “bandage” by placing a hand exactly where they were touched and keeps running that way, and after a second…
A Walk Through the Pole Forest
We stand plastic poles upright in cones with holes and the playground becomes a forest of tall trees.
Achoo, Into Your Elbow!
Children move around like animals and when the teacher goes “Ah… ah… achoo!”, they stop and hide their face in their elbow as if sneezing or coughing.