Fun Movements for Nature Related Activities

Fun Movement Activities About All Things Nature

 

We all know how vital movement is in early childhood for promoting a healthy lifestyle. It also allows a child to understand what her or his body can do and allows them to express their feelings. So here are a few ideas for fun movement activities about all things Nature.
 

Life Cycles:

Story of a Tree:
Make up a story dance about the life cycle of a tree and leaf. Start out as a seed, then a seedling, tree trunk, branches (don't forget to sway in the breeze and bend in strong winds), and leaf (don't forget to blow off the tree and swirl all the way to the ground).

Butterfly Story Dance:

Start out by being rolled up in a ball (Egg). When you "hatch", stretch out, then wiggle along the floor while munching leaves until your are big and fat (Caterpillar). Your body is ready to change so curl up and hold still for 30 seconds (Chrysalis). You are finally ready to "emerge". Shake out your wings then fly to the snack table to drink nectar from flowers which can be juice from cups (Butterfly).

 

Acting Out Animals:

Sea Creatures:
Act out where they live, how they eat, and how they protect themselves.

For example:

Hermit crabs scurry around on rocks, they are scavengers, hide in snail shell and have exoskeleton.
Anemones have their bodies stick to rocks, and they pull in their tentacles when tide is out. They catch fish with sticky tentacles, protect themselves with stingers and some can even swim away.
Sea urchin have tube feet that stick to rocks, eat seaweed with 5 teeth, protect themselves with spines and hard shell.
Barnacles are glued onto rocks, use legs to catch food, and protect themselves with their shell.





 

Marching Ants:

I have always loved the "Ants Go Marching One by One" song. Teach your kids the song and then practice marching like ants while you sing. Children can form an ant's body (head, thorax, abdomen) by dividing into groups of three. Make sure you have the second and third child hold the shoulders in front of them.

 

Move Like a Grasshopper:

Here is a fun grasshopper chant to explore the motions of a grasshopper.

 

Grasshopper, grasshopper, on the hill

Grasshopper, grasshopper, stay so still (everyone stay still) 

Grasshopper, grasshopper, eat a grass lunch

Grasshopper, grasshopper, crunch, munch, munch (everyone pretend to eat)

Grasshopper, grasshopper, on the ground

Grasshopper, grasshopper, look around (everyone look around)

Grasshopper, grasshopper, jump up high

Grasshopper, grasshopper, fly to the sky (everyone jump up high)

 

Parachute Play:

If you do not have access to a parachute, you can do this activity with a large sheet or blanket. Have a stuffed animal at each child's feet. Call out a type of animal, for example, "All birds in!" and have the kids with that type of animal throw it into the center of the sheet. everyone moves the sheet so that the animals bounce like popcorn. It is also fun to try to bounce out certain types of animals off the sheet. 

 

Dramatic Play:

 

Gardening:

Provide children with child-sized rakes, shovels, garden gloves, aprons, empty seed packets, flower pots, watering cans, plastic flowers, fruits, and vegetable.

 

Underwater exploration:

Provide children with child-sized dive gear such as wet suits, masks, snorkels, fins. Also provides marine related stuffed animals.

 

Camping:

Provide children with sleeping bags, backpacks, a small tent, flashlights, a camp cooking set, pretend food, binoculars, maps and magnifiers. Also add plush deer, bears, squirrels, foxes, birds, etc. to complete their forest adventure! 

 

Games:

 

 

Swim, Fly, or Run Away:

When a predator is near, many animals stay still. If the predator comes too close, they will swim, fly or run away as fast as they can. Predators sneak up on their prey by moving slowly and quietly, but if their prey starts to flee, they will try to chase them. For this activity, take turns being predators and prey. When you are a predator, practice sneaking by moving slowly and quietly, and then try chasing after your prey. When you are prey, practice freezing and fleeing. When a predator catches its prey, switch roles.

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Quiet as a Mouse:

This is another fun prey-predator type game. You will need a large open area and some tokens to represent mouse food. Scatter the tokens in the area. Select the "owl" and have it stand in the middle with their eyes closed. The other children will be "mice" and have them make a large circle around the owl. To start, select a mouse (unknown to he owl) to go and "forage" for a food token and return to the circle (anywhere) without being heard by the owl. The owl's job is to listen. If he/she hears the mouse, they should point in the direction of the sound and say "Mouse!". If the mouse if caught, it returns to its position in the circle and a new mouse will be chosen. Choose a different owl when a mouse is caught or when 3 mice have successfully returned to their nest with food tokens.

 

"Simon Says" The Vertebrate Version:

First, make sure you demonstrate the motions for all of the commands. Some good examples are:

"Fly like a bird"

"Hop like a rabbit"

"Slither like a snake"

"Walk like a bear"

"Swim like a shark"

Start the game by calling out the commands in random order and having the kids act out the movements. Instruct the kids NOT to do the movements if the command does not make sense. After a few turns, change a command to make it silly, for example "Hop like a shark". Have Fun!