Tourists in the Big City
In groups of five, children are tourists touring the city behind a guide with a little flag: they cross the crosswalk on green, go over the river bridge, take the subway, climb the lookout stairs and toss a coin in the fountain. The course skills go hand in hand with simple street-safety rules.
How to play
- The teacher shows the chalk-drawn city: crosswalk (stripes to jump), river bridge (gym bench), subway (play tunnel), lookout stairs (foam blocks set as steps) and fountain (a hoop with beanbag “coins”) (2 min).
- Practice the traffic light: the teacher stands at the crosswalk with red, yellow and green cards, and everyone practices stopping and jumping across the stripes (2 min).
- Make groups of five; the first child is the guide with a scarf flag and the group follows in a line through the course, waiting for green to cross (5 min).
- Switch guides each lap so everyone gets at least one turn (5 min).
- Group photo: each group climbs the lookout, freezes for a “photo” and walks back to the hotel along the sidewalk (2 min).
Rules
- On red, freeze on the sidewalk; on green, jump across the stripes.
- Follow the guide without passing.
- One at a time on the bridge and the stairs.
- Toss your coin in the fountain and leave it there.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, everyone follows the teacher as guide and the light only has red and green.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, use child guides and a three-color light (on yellow, walk slowly).
Harder
For 5-year-olds, the guide picks the order of the sights and the group must stay together, no more than an arm's length apart.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the child can be the traffic light, or the group uses the wide sidewalk beside the bridge and subway.
- Visual impairment: the light is also called out loud (“Green!”) and the child behind rests a hand on their shoulder.
- Autism: don't keep switching for this child: same guide and same group throughout.
Learning goals
- Complete a course with balancing, jumping, crawling, climbing and throwing.
- Apply simple street-safety rules in play.
- Follow and lead a group through space.
Equipment for a class of 25
- tizas: 5
- cartulinas de colores: 3
- banco sueco: 1
- túnel de tela: 1
- bloques de gomaespuma: 6
- saquitos: 10
- aro: 1
- pañuelos: 5
Teacher tip
Draw wide chalk sidewalks around the stations so groups wait off the course. The usual mistake is a guide who runs: the group has to be able to keep up. It's a great moment to talk about crossing real streets holding a grown-up's hand.
PatioLab has "Tourists in the Big City" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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