Walking on Tin Can Stilts

In small groups, always with an adult right beside them, children step up onto tin can stilts and learn to take robot steps by pulling up on the ropes. It builds balance on a raised, wobbly base and coordination of the hand and foot on the same side.

How to play

1. The teacher shows the stilts: two big cans with a rope each. They step on, pull the ropes up, and take robot steps (2 min).
2. Make groups of four or five: while one child uses the stilts with an adult beside them, the others play robots in their area; each child steps on and off the stilts a few times without walking (3 min).
3. Take small steps, pulling the rope with the hand on the same side as the foot: "Foot and rope, foot and rope" (4 min).
4. Walk a straight path marked with cones, there and back, no rushing (4 min).
5. Step off the stilts and walk like robots with dead batteries until you sit down on the floor (2 min).

Rules

• Always with a grown-up beside me.
• I step on and off slowly.
• If I wobble, I step off and start again.
• Only on flat ground, never on steps or slopes.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: set the cans on a table and have the child walk them along with their hands, pulling the ropes in time with classmates.
• Visual impairment: an adult holds the child at the waist, and a rope on the ground marks the path for the feet to feel.
• Less coordination: use shorter, wider cans, and the adult holds the ropes together with the child at first.

Learning goals

• Keep balance on a raised, unstable base.
• Coordinate the hand and foot on the same side.
• Build confidence with an adult's help.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Tin can stilts with rope: 6
• Cones: 8

Teacher tip

Use big food cans with the rims filed down and covered with duct tape, and ropes that reach the child's waist. It works far better with a second adult or a parent volunteer: one at the stilts and one with the robots.

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