Plush baseball, soccer ball, volley ball
Wiffle ball
Tennis ball
Sports stencils
Baseball hats
Team jerseys
Team hats
Swimming goggles
Cheerleading pom poms
Cheerleading uniform
Score book
Sports stamps
Sports stickers
Sport magazine clippings
Sports file folder games
Sports cookie cutters
Empty Gatorade and/or Powerade bottles
Empty water bottles
Sports sensory bottle (Fill bottle with water and sport beads, glue lid on
Water Table: ping pong balls, scooper/tongs, bucket, sports sponges, spray bottles, mini fishing rod, plastic fish, bubbles, legos
Sensory Table: Large pom poms, small balls, golf balls, tennis balls, grass, shredded paper, sports pictures, ping pong balls, scooper/tongs, bucket
1. Sports hide and seek (have children close their eyes while you hide sports objects around the room, in sight, have children search for objects, first child back with objects gets to hide the objects next time and so on)
2. Have a variety of sports balls and let children hold each one and see which ones are heavy and which are light.
3. Explore the different types of sports balls. Football, baseball, soccer, tennis, bowling, etc Observe the different ways they move, throwing, kicking, hitting, etc
1. Golf Ball Painting (Materials needed: Golf balls, shallow box/bin lid, watered down paint, paper. Mix the paint with a little water (it works better!). Place a piece of paper in the box/bin lid. Drop some paint (many colors are cool!) on different parts of the paper. Place 2 golf balls on the paper. Shake the box lid from side to side to make designs. Be sure to let the children do all the steps of this project!)
2. Finger People Soccer Players (Give the children paper that is about 6 inches tall and 8 inches tall (rectangular). Have them draw a picture of themselves. Make two holes near the bottom where the knees would be on their person.The children place their index finger in one hole and middle finger in another. They then use their "person" to kick pom pom soccer balls!)
3. Cut out pentagon shapes out of black paper, give children a paper plate and let them glue shapes on plate to make a soccer ball.
4. Use blocks to build a "swimming pool" children will pretend to swim
5. Tennis Ball Puppet (Materials needed: tennis balls, sharp knife (for teachers' use only), markers, yarn, glue. In advance, cut a line into the tennis ball. This will be the mouth of the puppet (when you squeeze the ball from the sides of this slice mark, it opens and closes!). The children decorate by using yarn for hair, markers to make lips and eyes, etc.)
6. Sports hide and seek (have children close their eyes while you hide sports objects around the room, in sight, have children search for objects, first child back with objects gets to hide the objects next time and so on)
7. Ball Sizing (cut out sports balls of different sizes and have children sort them biggest to smallest, smallest to biggest)
8. Sports collage using sport magazine clippings
9. Sports Sort (Supply the children with pictures of sports objects that belong together. Have the children sort the objects according to the sport they go with)
10. Find One like mine (Cut out shapes of different sports objects. Have them laminated. Pick out an object, and ask the children to pick the same object as you out of a pile of objects)
11. Have a variety of sports balls and let children hold each one and see which ones are heavy and which are light.
12. Explore the different types of sports balls. Football, baseball, soccer, tennis, bowling, etc Observe the different ways they move, throwing, kicking, hitting, etc
1. Swim Stroke Freeze Game (Teach the children how to move their arms for different swimming strokes such as: Backfloat, Breast Stroke, Crawl, Dog Paddle. Practice them a few times. Now, play music and tell them you will tell them how to "swim" to the other side of the room. They must FREEZE when the music stops and listen for the new swim stroke to use! Introduce them to "Free Swim" ...... the choose their own stroke!
2. Swimming, Swimming Song (tune of Sailing, Sailing)
(Act out!)
Swimming, Swimming, In the swimming pool.
Could you think of anything else that you would rather do?
Breast stroke. Side Stroke. Fancy diving, too!
Could you think of anything else that you would rather do?
3. Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.
4. My Ball Song (tune of Mary had a Little Lamb)
Once I had a little ball
little ball
little ball
Once I had a little ball
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce
5. My Sports Song (tune of The More we Get Together)
If I would play soccer
play soccer
play soccer
If I would play soccer
I would need a ball
Substitute soccer for football, tennis, baseball etc.
6. See the Swimmers (tune of We're Going to The Zoo)
“See the swimmers a swim, swim, swimming,
Racing down the pool their swim, swim, swimming,
Looking so cool as their swim, swim, swimming,
So we'll go swimming too.
See the runners a run, run, running,
Racing down the track their run, run, running,
Looking so fast as they’re run, run running,
So we'll go running too.”
Teaching Concepts for Fingerplays
1. Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Take me out to the ballgame. (Pretend to be swinging a baseball bat.)
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack. (Use one hand to motion like you are popping a piece of popcorn into your mouth.)
I don't care if I never get back. (Shake your head back and forth like you are saying no.)
Oh it's root, root, root for the home team. (Pump your fist three times like you are cheering.)
If they don't win it's a shame. (Hold both hands out with the palms facing up.)
For it's 1, 2, 3 strikes - you're out (Count to three on your fingers and then point out to the side like a baseball umpire.)
at the old, ball game!
2. Baseball Player (tune of Frere Jacques)
Baseball player, baseball player (pretend to throw ball)
Swing the bat, hit the ball (Pretend to swing a baseball bat.)
Run around the bases, run around the bases (Pretend to be running.)
Homerun, homerun
1. Simon Says Sports
2. Tennis ball toss (toss tennis ball in basket)
3. Kick the Cup (label 3 plastic cups with a letter, have children kick a soccer ball to knock over the letter you tell them too, if children are too young to know letters they can just kick the ball to knock over the cups)
4. Sports Hop (cut out sports objects and place them on the ground for children to hop from one to the other)
5. Running race (have running races or relay races, make it fun by having them walk on all fours, walk backwards, hop, skip etc.)