The Toy Factory

Children are toys being made as they pass through the factory machines: the conveyor belt (rolling), the springs (jumping), the paint tunnel (crawling), quality control (balancing) and the gift box (climbing and tossing). On the way out, the teacher winds them up and each toy comes to life in its own way.

How to play

1. The teacher shows the factory: conveyor belt (mats in a row to log-roll along), springs (hoops to jump), paint tunnel (play tunnel), quality control (gym bench with a beanbag on the head) and gift box (climb onto a folded mat and toss a ball into the box) (2 min).
2. The teacher goes through the machines like a half-made toy and shows each move (2 min).
3. First lap: the toys go through every machine one at a time (5 min).
4. Coming out of the gift box, the teacher winds them up on the back (“click, click, click”) and they dance to the music like any toy they want until they wind down, then head back to the belt (4 min).
5. Now the toys are robots and do the course with stiff moves, then rag dolls with floppy moves (3 min).
6. The factory closes: all the toys line up still on the shelf (sitting in a row) until the teacher turns off the music (2 min).

Rules

• Roll along the belt with arms stretched out, one at a time.
• If the beanbag falls at quality control, pick it up and keep going.
• Only the teacher does the winding.
• When the toy runs down, it stops.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: on the belt, the child lies down and an adult helps them roll; the other machines use a parallel path, and the dance is done from the chair.
• Autism: if rolling feels dizzy or unpleasant, crawl across the belt instead; give a heads-up before touching the back to wind up.
• Hearing loss: wind up with a visible key-turning gesture and signal stop with an open hand.

Learning goals

• Link rolling, jumping, crawling, balancing and throwing.
• Express movement qualities with the body: stiff and floppy.
• Control the body after rolling.

Equipment for a class of 25

• colchonetas: 5
• aros: 6
• túnel de tela: 1
• banco sueco: 1
• saquitos: 5
• pelotas: 10
• caja: 1
• música

Teacher tip

Push the belt mats tight together with no gaps. Some kids get dizzy rolling: let them sit for a moment before moving on. The wind-up dance is the reward for each lap, so keep the music ready.

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