Suitable for:
- 1 or more players
- Outdoor or indoor area
- Range of physical literacy: all types
- Age appropriate: 3-7years
Primary physical literacy skills: running, jumping, hopping,
object handling, skipping
Make it happen
- Set up 4 different activity ‘stations’ that alternate between activities that use a higher and lower level of energy e.g. running on-the-spot uses more energy than throwing and catching a ball on-the-spot.
- Each child can perform each activity for a set amount of time (e.g. 30 seconds) and rotate around the stations until they have completed each activity on the circuit.
- If you have a restricted indoor space, the children can perform alternate exercises on the same spot.
Some examples of higher and lower energy activities:
Higher energy:
- Star jumps
- Running on-the-spot
- 2 footed jumps backwards/forwards/side to side
- Skipping on the spot using a skipping rope (5-7yrs)
Lower energy:
- Marching on the spot
- Bouncing a ball on the ground
- Clap hands around body (in front of chest/behind back/under knees/overhead
- Touching ground with fingers with knees bent and then reaching into sky on tiptoes
We provide this list only as a guide of what parents/carers may wish to consider. Please also read our general guidelines on the Parents/Carers Information page.
- Alternating the stations between a lower energy activity and a higher energy activity allows the body time to recover. It may be that some children will need to stop and rest completely from time to time so you can introduce an extra rest station into the circuit, or consider making the activities easier.
- Make sure the activities you choose are safe to perform in the space you have available and that each person doing the activity has sufficient space around them to avoid collisions. If you have limited space then an individual can perform each activity on the spot in the same space one after the other rather than setting up 4 or more individual stations.
- Watch for signs of exhaustion, adjust the activities and time targets to suit each individual (e.g. a 3 year old may just try and perform 5 star jumps without a time limit, whereas a 7 year old may choose to try and complete a certain amount of star jumps within a time limit).
Expand the headings below for suggestions to make more use of this activity and keep you and your children coming back for more
- Involve the children in choosing which activities they should perform at each station to ensure they are motivated to want to do it and feel like it is their own personal circuit.
- Pick a theme for the circuit e.g. each station could be a different holiday location to visit and the activities could be things to do there. Keep the circuit fresh by introducing different activities and new themes over time.
- Leaper’s theme: Pretend the stations are lilypads and join Hoppy as he jumps around the pond visiting different animals and performing different exercises.
- Some ideas: perform upright rowing with Mr Water Boatman, wiggle through the water with Mrs Fish, scuttle up the mud on all fours with Master Newt, buzz around with fast flapping arms like Miss Dragonfly.
Please also read our general guidelines on the Parents/Carers Information page.
- Challenge the children to complete a certain amount of circuits.
- Increase the amount of time they have to perform each activity.
- Increase the amount of repetitions of each activity within a timescale e.g. the last time they did the circuit they completed 10 star jumps in 20 seconds, now their challenge is to aim for 11 star jumps in 20 seconds).
Please also read our general guidelines on the Parents/Carers Information page.
- Always make sure whatever equipment you are using is safe and appropriate for that use.
- Think of any equipment you have available that can be used safely within the circuit activities.
- Some ideas: you could use small plastic water bottles filled up to act as dumbbells for 5-7 year olds as a higher energy activity and empty plastic water bottles as a lower energy activity; a ball could be bounced on the ground and caught 8 times for a lower energy activity, a ball could be placed on the ground and the child runs around it 8 times for a higher energy activity, etc.
Please also read our general guidelines on the Parents/Carers Information page.
- As the children progress, consider how to increase the level of energy required at the stations g. if marching on the spot has been chosen as an activity then it could be made more energetic by the child lifting the knees higher and raising the arms above the head as if climbing a ladder.
Please also read our general guidelines on the Parents/Carers Information page.
Printable PDF download here
Use of the resources
This move to improve resource is provided as a guideline only for parents and carers who wish to supervise physical activities for their children. Users of this resource have a duty of care to ensure the safety of their participants. We do not endorse the use of any content in this resource that a user feels may present a risk to the safety or well being of the children in their care.
