Wizard Quick's Color Cards
Wizard Quick holds up colored cards, and each color is a spell: red, sit down; blue, lie down; yellow, jump; green, run in place. It practices reacting to a color with the matching movement, faster and faster.
How to play
- The teacher puts on an imaginary wizard hat and introduces the four spells with their cards, doing them with the children (2 min).
- Slow round: show a card, everyone casts the spell and waits for the next one (2 min).
- Fast round: the wizard switches cards nonstop, and children transform as soon as they see them (3 min).
- The wizard gets sneaky: hides the card behind their back and reveals it with a sudden turn (2 min).
- A child becomes the wizard's helper and picks the colors while the teacher plays along (2 min).
Rules
- I watch the card, not what my friend is doing.
- Each color has its spell and I do it in my own spot.
- If I get it wrong, the spell tickles me and I keep playing.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, use only two colors (red sit, green run in place) and the teacher says the color out loud.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, use all four colors without saying them.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, the wizard shows two cards at once and they do both spells in a row, or the wizard changes what one color means halfway through.
Adaptations
- Visual impairment or color blindness: each card also has a big picture (chair, bed, spring, wheel), and the teacher names the color.
- Hearing impairment: works as is since the signals are visual; seat the child up front.
- Limited mobility: in a wheelchair, sit is hands on knees, lie down is leaning forward, jump is arms up and run is pumping arms.
Learning goals
- Link colors with movements.
- React quickly to a visual cue.
- Change positions with control and without bumping.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Colored construction paper: 4
Teacher tip
Post a chart of the four colors and their pictures on the wall so children can check it. With a big group, hold the card high and turn slowly so everyone sees it.
PatioLab has "Wizard Quick's Color Cards" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More main activities for Elementary
"Al Pasar la Barca" Parachute Rowing
Sitting around the parachute, children row by pulling the fabric toward them and letting it go toward the middle to the rhythm of the traditional Spanish song "Al pasar…
"Corro de la Patata" Parachute Circle
Children circle with the parachute while singing the traditional Spanish song "Al corro de la patata" (Potato Circle), and on "achupé, achupé" everyone sits down…
"El Patio de Mi Casa" Parachute Song
Children sing the traditional Spanish ring song "El patio de mi casa" while circling with the parachute and lowering it to the ground on "agáchate" (squat down).
"Que Llueva" Parachute Rain
Using the traditional Spanish children's song "Que llueva, que llueva" (Let It Rain), children make rain, clouds and sun with the parachute, and some hide underneath as…
«A la Zapatilla por Detrás»: The Slipper Behind Your Back
Sitting in a circle with eyes covered, one child walks around the outside with a slipper singing the traditional Spanish rhyme «A la zapatilla por detrás» («the…
«A Tapar la Calle»: The Chain That Blocks the Street
Half the class forms a hand-in-hand chain that walks forward singing the traditional Spanish song «A tapar la calle» («Block the street so nobody passes»), while the…