Early Elementary Children Moving and Learning

A physical education curriculum for everyone who works with early elementary children and understands the critical role of movement.

More than 100 movement activities for early elementary children

Physical education is a critical part of every early childhood curriculum. Children need to move to channel their energies in creative, beneficial ways and to learn habits for lifelong health and fitness.Early Elementary Children Moving & Learning provides more than 100 developmentally appropriate activities that contribute to a well-rounded curriculum in any classroom or program.

The book contains
An updated introduction reflecting new research and trends in early childhood health and fitness and information on how movement benefits children’s learning and development
More than 100 activities that fall under five categories: openers and closers, basic movement, cooperative activities, educational gymnastics, and rhythm and dance
Extension ideas and adaptations to use with children who have special needs
Curriculum connections for each activity and explanations about how activities are aligned with and meet early learning standards from NAEYC and AAHPERD
Original music to add joy and energy to the activities

Table of Contents

Curriculum Connectors Chart
Song List
Preface
Introduction
Benefits of Moving & Learning
Implementing the Program
Early Elementary Children: Developmental Considerations

Unit 1 Openers and Closers

This section consists of the “quieter” activities—those involving isolated body parts, such as the hands, face, arms, or legs, and specific relaxation exercises. Choose these activities to psychologically and physically prepare your students to begin or end their movement classes—or any time a less vigorous activity is called for.

Unit 2 Basic Movement

These activities explore the fundamental locomotor and nonlocomotor skills and the movement elements of space, shape, time, force, and flow. They form the foundation of a child-centered physical education program and provide the basic knowledge essential to the next three categories.

Unit 3 Cooperative Activities

The activities in this section serve three purposes: 1) They offer the students opportunities to work cooperatively with partners and in small and large groups. 2) They provide greater challenge, beyond what the children experience in Unit 2. 3) These activities can physically and emotionally prepare the students to successfully work together in those educational gymnastics and rhythm and dance activities requiring participation in pairs or groups.

Unit 4 Educational Gymnastics

Included in this section are activities related to the gymnastic skills of transferring weight, rolling, and balancing. The exploration of combinations of locomotor and nonlocomotor skills are also included in this unit, as gymnastics typically involves the sequencing of movement skills.

Unit 5 Rhythm and Dance

The movement element of rhythm, the musical concepts of beat and meter, and the qualities of swinging, sustained, suspended, percussive, vibratory, and collapsing movement are explored in this unit. The Statues activities offer students the opportunity to improvise and express themselves to a variety of music, and the Movement Words activities provide a chance for students to perform combinations of skills in interpretive and expressive ways. All of the activities in this unit prepare children for dance experiences in the upper elementary grades.

References
Additional Resources