The Moving Senses Fair
At four stations, one for each sense, children touch, listen, look and feel with their feet, always turning what they sense into a movement. It links the senses with motor skills, and each child leans on the sense that works best for them.
How to play
- Introduce the four stations with their pictures (hand, ear, eye and foot) and make four groups; each group starts at one and rotates on a tambourine shake (1 min).
- Hand station: reach into the box, pull out an object, say whether it's soft or rough and carry it, crawling or walking, to the hoop for that texture (4 min).
- Ear station: each child shakes their shaker and looks for the classmate whose shaker sounds the same; when they find them, they high-five and jump together (4 min).
- Eye station: in pairs, one moves a scarf slowly and the other copies it like a mirror, standing or sitting (4 min).
- Foot station: walk or wheel along a rope on the floor, eyes open or closed if we like (4 min).
- Gather in the middle and each child shows with a gesture which station they liked best (1 min).
Rules
- Everyone tries every station.
- When the tambourine shakes, I leave things as I found them and move on.
- If my friend can't see or hear, I help with another sense.
- I touch what's in the box gently.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, three stations (hand, eye and foot) with an adult at each one.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, all four stations as described.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, guess the object without looking at the hand station and go backward along the rope at the foot station.
Adaptations
- Blind or low vision: at the eye station, the partner guides the child's hands with the scarf and they copy it by touch; at the others, they play like everyone else.
- Deaf or hard of hearing: at the ear station, shakers have a colored sticker, so the child finds a match by color while others use sound.
- Limited mobility: set the box and hoops at wheelchair height and lay the floor rope in a wide, straight line.
Learning goals
- Take in information through different senses.
- Respond to what they sense with a well-matched movement.
- Help classmates by using other senses.
Equipment for a class of 25
- box with a hand hole: 1
- textured objects: 6
- hoops: 4
- sound shakers: 12
- colored scarves: 6
- ropes: 2
- station picture cards: 4
- tambourine: 1
Teacher tip
Make matching pairs of shakers with glued caps (rice, chickpeas, large bells) and the same colored sticker on each pair. Ask a parent volunteer or aide to stay at the hand station.
PatioLab has "The Moving Senses Fair" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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