Sail Into Shape
Books to Share
- Barney Plays Nose to Toes by Margie Larsen.
- Calico Cat’s Exercise Book by Donald Charles.
- Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae.
- Silly Sally by Audrey Woods.
Books to Show or Booktalk
- Dance by Bill T. Jones.
- Hamster Camp: How Harry Got Fit by Teresa Bateman.
- My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste.
- Murphy Meets the Treadmill by Harriet Ziefert.
- Tumble Bunnies by Kathryn Lasky.
Exercise Your Mind....Read!
Create a scene of children exercising and/or playing sports from construction paper or poster board. The children can be wearing real exercise or sports clothes pulled over the paper or board and stapled to the bulletin board.
Copy and cut out muscle shirts using the pattern provided.
Work It Out!
Display books, videos, DVDs, and musical recordings about exercising, dancing, and movement mixed with hand-held barbells, sweat bands, sun visors, running shoes, etc. Wear exercise clothes to storytime.
Serve small cups of a sport drink like Gatorade™ or a fruit juice.
Warm Up Song
(Traditional. Adapted by Debbie Brightwell Brown. Suit actions to the words as you recite the rhyme.)
A one, and a two, and a three and a four,
Touch your toes, and again once more.
Jog in place and do some hops,
March around the room, now come to a stop.
Lie on your back; put your feet in the air.
Now pretend to pedal a bike that’s not really there.
This is fun and a very good way,
To pass the time on a long summer day.
Shake It Song
(By Susan Dailey of the Wells County Library System in Indiana. Reprinted with permission. Sing to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.” Give each child a shaker, bell, tambourine or some type of noisemaker, etc. Shake the noisemakers as the song instructs.)
You shake your tambourine high.
You shake your tambourine low.
You shake your tambourine fast, fast, fast,
And then you shake it slow.
You shake it to the left.
You shake it to the right.
You shake and shake your tambourine,
Until it is out of sight.
- “Warmin’ Up” on On the Move by Greg and Steve.
- “Put Your Finger in the Air” on Playing Favorites by Greg and Steve.
Stories to Tell
“Mountain Climbing” in Stories to Play With by Hiroko Fujita.
Fun Sport Bottles
- Water bottles
- Permanent markers
In advance, empty the water bottles and clean off the outside labels. Allow the bottles to dry. Let the children decorate the outside with stickers and permanent markers.
- Plastic sun visors
- Self-adhesive fun foam pieces
Give each child a sun visor and pieces of the fun foam and then let them assemble the pieces into a design that they want on their visor. After sticking on the fun foam pieces, the children can wear their visors. Craft stores and Oriental Trading Company, www.orientaltrading.com sell visors in bulk.
Games and Activities
Gather the children and parents in a circle around the parachute. Play any type of rhythmic music or use a recording of songs especially for use with parachutes, such as Playtime Parachute Fun for Early Childhood. Try different activities, such as having the group lift and lower the parachute together, bounce balls or stuffed toys, or parents hold the parachute up while children go underneath, etc. Indoor play parachutes can be purchased from several companies including Tinker Tots at www.tinkertots.com/playparachutes.html.
Invite a karate school instructor to do a short beginner’s lesson and demonstration of karate.
If you have public performance rights, show these videos and DVDs, or segments of them, to the children. Otherwise, display them for home use. Times are indicated for the entire film.
Yoga Kids: For Ages 3-6. (35 minutes)
Online games and experiments help kids learn about staying healthy.
Building Blocks for a Healthy Future
Age appropriate games and songs encourage healthy living.
Playtime Parachute Fun for Early Childhood by Georgiana Liccione Stewart.
Stories to Play With by Hiroko Fujita.
Oriental Trading Company
This craft and party supplier sells inexpensive sun visors.
This Internet toy store sells inexpensive play parachutes and other sports and games equipment.