Let’s ‘Play to Learn’
Encourage the children to:
- Imagine they are trapped in a castle and they are trying to escape from something in the dungeon. They take the ‘key’ to the castle door while ‘it’ is sleeping; just as they are creeping away, ‘it’ wakes up and chases after them.
- Start one behind the other – the child in the front is the ‘dodger’, the child behind is the ‘chaser’. Chaser tries to take the ‘key’ back.
- Play both roles – ‘dodger’ and ‘chaser’.
- Dodger must try to keep chaser out of their ‘bubble’.
- Chaser must try to get into dodger’s ‘bubble’.
Safety & Organisation
Ensure:
- the surface is clean and free from obstructions
- only one pair working in each large garden being aware of one another’s ‘bubbles’
Opportunities to
- develop increasing control and co-ordination
- show an increasing awareness of space
- recognise how their breathing changes when they exercise and how they look and feel
Questions
- How did you move to avoid being caught?
- Did you have to take the key back?
- Which directions did you use?
- Which role did you like best – ‘chaser’ or ‘dodger’?
- What happens as you get tired?
- How did your adventure end?
Can you see the child?
- Developing increasing control and co-ordination
- Showing an increasing awareness of space
- Recognising how their breathing changes when they exercise and how they look and feel
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Most of the time
Encourage the child to:
- give the dodger a head start when they are the chaser
- start close to the chaser when they are the dodger
- complete a slalom course as part of the escape route
- play the game for longer periods of time
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Sometimes
Encourage the child to:
- walk slowly
- practise running
- start close to the ‘dodger’ when they are the ‘chaser’
- start far away from the ‘chaser’ when they are the ‘dodger’
- discuss which route they will take before they start
- play the game over shorter distances