Animal movement activities


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Rabbit Jump
  • Assume a squat position
  • Move your arms forward together and put them on the floor in front of you.
  • Shift your weight onto your hands.
  • Jump your feet forward until they are between your hands, but do not lift your hands from the ground until this is completed.
  • Rinse and repeat
Puppy Run
Space the children out so they don't crash into each other. They will eventually but you need to be seen as putting some sort of effort into avoiding it. To maximise this, have them all face the same direction.

Walking like a puppy does not involve walking at all, because it is my sincere belief that puppies are incapable of walking. Instead, there is one simple process to run like a puppy:
  • Get down on all fours and distribute your weight evenly. You will need to bend your legs and elbows to avoid looking like an inchworm.
  • Lift your head so eyes are forward.
  • Scamper. Scampering does not require a specific motion of the legs, so long as the general direction is forward.
If you want them to walk like a more adult dog, who has gotten used to locomotion, have them synchronize their left arm and right leg, and vice versa.
Rooster Hop

Begin in a standing position.
  • Reach behind you and grab your left foot with your right hand. Remember not to grab your right foot with your left hand as well or you will fall over.
  • Hop around for a bit - forwards and backward. Roosters do not usually move sideways but I think we can be lenient here.
  • Now swap hand/foot so that you are holding your right foot in your left hand and standing on your left foot.
  • Hop around again
  • Bring attention to the appropriate landing technique, with a slightly bent knee
Seal Crawl

The thing to remember about seals, for this exercise, is that they don't have any back legs. So to replicate this, students are to keep their back legs together, preferably with their feet splayed apart in imitation of fins.
  1. Lie down flat on a mat with your elbows bent, your legs straight and your hands on the floor, palms down, at about your shoulder level.
  2. Out your weight on your arms so they are supporting your entire body
  3. While keeping your legs straight, use your arms to 'walk' and drag your toes along behind you.
Mule Kick

Remember to ensure a good distance between each student.
  1. Stand facing the mat with your feet on the end.
  2. Bend down from the waist and place your hands on the mat, palms down.
  3. By shifting your weight to your palms, keep your feet together and kick them out behind you. Pull them back in and return to your original position.

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