When My Grown-Up Gets Small

Kids and grown-ups walk hand in hand and, depending on the tambourine beats, the grown-up shrinks by crouching while the child grows tall by stretching, or the other way around, or both at once. It works body control at different heights and listening for a signal, with lots of giggles at seeing grown-ups so small.

How to play

1. Each child-and-grown-up pair walks hand in hand around the playground while the tambourine plays softly (1 min).
2. One loud beat: the grown-up crouches until they're shorter than the child, and the child stretches up on tiptoes, arms high (1 min).
3. Two beats: switch! The grown-up stretches like a giant and the child curls into a little ball on the ground (1 min).
4. Three beats: both get tiny and take a few steps like that, crouched down (1 min).
5. The teacher mixes up the signals faster and faster, and pairs keep walking in between (1 min).
6. Finish with both stretched tall like giants touching the sky, then lower your arms slowly as you breathe out (1 min).

Rules

• Listen to the tambourine before you move.
• One beat: my grown-up gets small. Two beats: I get small. Three: both of us.
• Walk without bumping into other pairs.
• Keep holding your grown-up's hand.

Variations

Adaptations

• Grown-ups with sore knees: they get small by sitting on a bench or chair instead of crouching.
• Hearing impairment: show picture cards (a giant, a little ball) along with the tambourine.
• Autism: practice the signals standing still before walking, and keep them in the same order at first.

Learning goals

• Control the body when moving up and down.
• Respond quickly to a sound signal.
• Warm up legs and trunk before the main game.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Tambourine

Teacher tip

Crouching is harder for grown-ups than for kids. Tell them to bend their knees only as far as feels okay. A common mix-up is everyone changing at once without listening; stop and repeat the signal slowly.

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