The Robot Vacuum
Children are robot vacuums crawling around the room picking up paper balls; if they bump a wall, they turn and keep going. They crawl with agility and decide their own route.
How to play
- Together we make big newspaper balls and scatter them on the floor (3 min).
- We switch on the robots: "beep, beep," and they crawl slowly around the room (1 min).
- The robots pick up balls with one hand and drop them at their base (a box) once they have three (3 min).
- If a robot touches a wall or a table, it says "beep," turns, and changes course (3 min).
- Low battery: the robots crawl back to their base and shut down (2 min).
Rules
- The robot moves on all fours.
- I pick up balls one at a time.
- If I bump into something, I say "beep" and turn.
- All balls go to the bases; I don't take balls from another robot.
Variations
Easier
Age 3: they bring each ball to the base right after picking it up.
Standard
Age 4: they collect three balls before heading to the base.
Harder
Age 5: each robot only picks up one kind of paper (newspaper or magazine), and they help each other clean the whole room.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the robot picks up balls from a wheelchair using large kitchen tongs or a dustpan.
- Blind or low vision: make the balls from crinkly paper so the child can find them by sweeping with their hands.
- Autism: give the child a taped-off area of the floor to "clean" on their own.
Learning goals
- Crawl while changing direction.
- Pick up objects while moving on all fours.
- Plan a route for collecting.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Newspaper balls: 60
- Cardboard boxes: 4
Teacher tip
Make the balls as big as an adult's fist so they can't go in a mouth. At the end, the robots become recyclers and the paper goes in the bin.
PatioLab has "The Robot Vacuum" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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