The TV Remote: Play, Pause, Rewind

Children move as if they were in a movie and follow the TV remote run by the teacher: play, pause, rewind and slow motion. It practices stopping and switching actions on time while warming up the body.

How to play

1. In a circle, the teacher shows the remote: the ▶ "play" card means dance and the ‖ "pause" card means freeze like on TV (1 min).
2. Practice play and pause all around the room, with short and long pauses (2 min).
3. Add the ◀◀ "rewind" card: walk backward very slowly, looking over your shoulder (1 min).
4. Add the turtle card, "slow motion": dance as if you were underwater (1 min).
5. Last show: the teacher mixes all four cards and ends with a long pause where we breathe (1 min).

Rules

• On pause nothing moves, not even your mouth.
• We go backward slowly and look behind us.
• We dance without touching friends.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: on pause the arms freeze, and on rewind the wheelchair rolls back a little with help or the arms move backward.
• Autism: line up the four cards on the wall and point to the one in use each time.
• Visual impairment: the teacher always says the word out loud and claps for pause.

Learning goals

• Stop moving when they see a signal.
• Switch actions according to the card.
• Control speed: normal, slow and backward.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Symbol cards: 4

Teacher tip

Make the cards big and in bold colors. The typical mistake is looking at the floor and missing the remote, so tell them the TV "only works if we watch it."

More activities like this

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