The Mail Carrier Visits Every Table
Each child is a mail carrier with an envelope and delivers it to the table the teacher names, moving a different way each time. It warms up with varied locomotor moves and teaches kids to find their way around the classroom furniture.
How to play
- Give each mail carrier an envelope and name each table: the window table, the door table, the board table (1 min).
- The teacher says “To the window table, on tiptoe!” and everyone carries their envelope there and sets it on top (1 min).
- Pick up any envelope and deliver it to another table hopping on one foot, sideways or like robots (2 min).
- Rush mail is delivered by walking fast without running; heavy mail, slowly and bent over (1 min).
- All carriers drop off their last envelope and sit down to rest after their route (1 min).
Rules
- My envelope goes on top of the table, no throwing.
- I walk through the aisles, not under the tables.
- I move the way the teacher says.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, each table has a colored scarf and the teacher calls the color.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, tables by name and three ways of moving.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, each envelope has a table symbol drawn on it and they read it and deliver it on their own.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: carries the envelope on their lap and picks the nearest of the tables called.
- Visual impairment: goes with a buddy who guides them by the arm and says “Table on your right.”
- Autism: use a picture map of the classroom tables to point to where they're going.
Learning goals
- Warm up with varied ways of moving.
- Find their way in the classroom using furniture as landmarks.
- Follow directions about place and way of moving.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Tables: 6
- Paper envelopes: 25
Teacher tip
Fold sheets of paper to make the envelopes and reuse them for many sessions. If everyone heads to one table at once it jams, so name two tables at a time with a big group.
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