Kids on the march!
How high can you lift your knees? (Lift knees high to the beat.)
How high can you swing your arms? (Swing arms up and down.)
March down low. (Bend down and march.)
March up high. (Stand tall and lift arms in the air.)
March out. (Extend legs and arms.)
March in. (Legs together and march with arms close by sides.)
March with rainbow arms. (Make arches with hands.)
March and lift opposite arms and legs. (Left leg and right arm.)
                                                                   (Right leg and left arm.)
Cross and tap elbows to opposite knees as you march. (Right hand
to left knee and left hand to right knee.)
March in a circle. (March in one direction in a circle and then reverse.)
Quick step. (March, march, pause with knee lifted for two counts.)
Power march like you’re late for the bus. (Swing arms and legs.)
Tip toe march like you’re sneaking up on someone. (Tip toe.)
March in slow motion. (Step, pause, step, pause.)
March like a tin soldier. (Stiff arms and legs as you march.)

Activities: Make a long line and march around the room.
Make homemade instruments from paper towel rolls (sticks), paper plates (cymbals), toilet paper rolls (kazoos), and other objects. Have a parade and march and play! March fingers on your desk or on your thighs.

Jump Rope Rally

Get out your imaginary jump ropes and here we go!
(Pretend to twirl a rope as you jump.)
Blue bells, cockle shells, eevie, ivy, over. (Jump on both feet.)
I like coffee. I like tea. I like you to jump with me.
Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish (Alternate hopping on different feet.)
How many pieces do you wish?
If you jump to 24, you will get an extra turn.
1, 2, 3…24
Cinderella dressed in yella. (Pretend to cross the jump rope with hands.)
Went upstairs to kiss her fella.
Made a mistake and kissed a snake.
How many doctors did it take?
1, 2, 3…8
Engine, engine number nine (Pretend to twirl rope backwards as you tap
Going down the railroad line. heels.)
If the train jumps off the track
You will get your money back.
How much money will you get?
1, 2, 3, …10
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around. (Make movements indicated.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, read the news.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, tie your shoes.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, sit down in your chair!

Activities: Have children go home and ask their parents to teach them a jump rope rhyme they learned when they were in school.
Make jump ropes for each child in your room. Use these for exercising as well as making letters, numerals, and shapes on the floor.
Reinforce letters and sounds with this rhyme:
A my Name is      (children think of a girl’s name that starts with A.)
My husband’s name is     (children think of a boy’s name with A.)
We come from      (city or state starting with A.)
And we sell           (product, food, etc. that starts with A.)

Zoo Movements
(Tune: Old Dan Tucker)

Look at the animals in the zoo. (Kick legs out to the sides.)
We can do their movements, too.
Just pretend and play along
With the zoo movements song.
Kangaroos jump around… (Bend elbows like paws and jump.)
Bears put all fours on the ground…(Put hands and feet on ground and walk.)
Elephants stomp and swing their trunks…(Clasp hands, swing, and stomp.)
Flamingoes stretch their legs a bunch…(Arms like wings and kick legs.)
Giraffes walk on tippy toes…(Stretch neck and walk on toes.)
Zebras gallop to and fro…(Gallop in place.)
Snakes slither and wiggle…(Wiggle as you go up and down.)
Penguins wobble with a jiggle…(Palms out by sides and wobble.)
Gorillas scratch their heads and think…(Scratch heads and sides.)
Look out, there’s a skunk that stinks!...(Point, hold nose, and run in place.)
We saw animals in the zoo. (Kick from side to side.)
And we did their movements, too.
Moving is fun to do.
It’s good for our bodies and brains, too.

Activities: Make animal stick puppets and hold them up as you do different movements.
Play “Guess who I am?” Children take turns doing animal antics while classmates try and guess what they are.
Do animal relays on the playground. Gallop like zebras, jump like kangaroos, walk on tippy toes like giraffes, etc.
Which animal would you like to be and why?
How are we like animals? How are we different?

Patty Cake Party
You can patty cake with a partner or by all by yourself.
Say, say, my playmate,
Come out and play with me.       (Clap hands alternating
And bring your dollies three         tapping right and left palms
Climb up my apple tree.               with your partner.)
Slide down my rain barrel
And through my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends forever more.
Say, say, oh, playmate.
I cannot play with you.
My dolly has the flu,
The mumps and measles, too.
I have no rain barrel.
I have no cellar door,
But we’ll be jolly friends forever more, more, more.

Miss (Cross arms on chest.)
Mary (Slap thighs and then clap hands.)
Mack (Slap right hand to partner’s right hand.)
Mack (Clap.)
Mack (Slap left hand to partner’s left hand.)
All dressed in black, black, black          (Continue to clap and
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons       tap right hands. Clap
Up and down her back, back, back.       and tap left hands.)
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump the fence, fence, fence.
They jumped so high, high, high
They touched the sky, sky, sky
And they never came back, back, back
Til’ the 4th of July, ly, ly.

Double, double, this, this.      (Make fists and tap on the word “double.”
Double, double, that, that.       Touch fronts of palms on the word “this.”
Double this, double that.         Touch backs of palms on the word “that.”)
Double, double, this and that.
Faster…
Super fast…

Activities: Let children make up their own hand clap patterns.
Look on the internet for more jump rope rhymes and hand clap games.
Run off copies of hand clap games and jump rope rhymes for the children to make books. Use these for choral reading.

Line Dance

Form a line by standing behind each other.
Place your hands on the person’s waist in front of you.
Now you’re ready for the bunny hop.
Touch right heel two times. (Stick out right heel, bring in, then stick out.)
Touch left heel two times. (Stick out left heel two times.)
Hop forward once. (Hop up.)
Hop backward once. (Hop back.)
Then hop three times forward… (Hop, hop, hop.)

Time for the conga!
Step, step, right heel. (Two steps and stick out right heel.)
Step, step, left heel. (Two steps and stick out left heel.)
              (Twirl hands and alternate putting opposite hand to elbow.)
Let’s do a little Irish dancing!
Hands on waist.
Alternate kicking right and left heel. (Touch right heel and then left.)
Can you dance in a circle? (Put right hand above your head.)
Can you go in the opposite direction? (Put left hand above your head.)
Make up your own Irish dance!

Activities: Increase the difficulty of these dances.
Encourage the children to teach other dances that they know to their classmates.
Show video clips of different folks dances from around the world.
Invite parents or others in your community to demonstrate dances, instruments, or music from their culture.