The Traveling Hoop Around the Circle

Everyone stands in a circle holding hands and sends a hoop traveling all the way around by passing it over their bodies without letting go, while chanting a made-up rhyme. Children practice cooperation, body coordination and patience waiting for the hoop.

How to play

1. Make a big circle holding hands; the teacher hangs a hoop on the joined hands of two children (1 min).
2. The teacher shows how to pass the hoop without letting go: head through, one arm out, then one leg and the other (2 min).
3. The hoop travels around the whole circle, and each time someone passes it we cheer "Yay!" (3 min).
4. Add a second hoop at a different spot in the circle and see if they meet (2 min).
5. While it travels, chant: "Hoop, hoop, travel through, over me and on to you" (1 min).
6. The hoop comes home to the teacher's hands, and we give the circle a round of applause (1 min).

Rules

• I keep holding my friends' hands.
• If someone finds it hard, we help by bringing our hands closer.
• I wait patiently for the hoop to reach me.
• I pass the hoop slowly so it doesn't hurt anyone.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the children on either side help pass the hoop over the head and arms, skipping the legs.
• Autism: they may stay outside the circle with the teacher and join when ready; nobody has to hold hands.
• Visual impairment: the neighbor says "the hoop's coming" and guides it toward their head.

Learning goals

• Cooperate to reach a group goal.
• Coordinate the body to pass through a hoop.
• Wait and help classmates.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Hoops: 3

Teacher tip

Use large, light hoops, and with a big class start with circles of 8 to 10 children: with 25 the wait gets long. Teach the order "head, arm, leg, leg" before you start.

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