Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Anthology of
Games and
Activities
Renice A.D. McFarlane
SW1370/13
April 15, 2014
Dr. Carol Long
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Content Page
Acknowledgement
Introduction
Infants
4-5
Toddlers
5-8
9-11
12-14
15-17
Reference Page
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Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my lecturers for the help which they have given throughout this
course as well as my group mates from 1C2 for their support.
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Introduction
The definition of a game, according to Kramer (2000) "a game is any activity which is
executed only for pleasure and without conscious purpose. In this definition every activity that
brings pleasure is a game. For example, people dance, play musical instruments, act in plays, and
play with dolls and model trains." This anthology has a variety of games which are suitable for
different age groups of children. The games will help in the children's physical, cognitive, and
affective domains, as well as help to improve coordination.
These games and activities are designed to help two to five year olds build their large
muscles, especially those in arms and legs. In building these muscles and expanding the
domains, the skills learned in these games play a role in getting the child ready for school.
Games are a good way of reinforcing critical skills such as eye-hand and eye-foot coordination,
following instructions, learning alphabet, numbers and colours.
The age categories which are used are as follows:
1. Infants - from birth to 1 year olds. The developmental domains being targeted are
cognitive, physical and affective as the child needs to start using all areas of the brain.
2. Toddlers - 2 year olds. The physical domain is the major target, as the child's gross motor
skills needs development.
3. 3-4 year olds. The physical and cognitive domains are major targets. The child's fine
motor skills and problem solving skills are being developed at this stage
4. 5-6 year olds. Cognitive and Affective domains are being targeted.
5. 7-8 year olds. Their cognitive skills are the primary aim.
Infants
Changing Nappy Time Activity
Babies can become unsettled when having their nappy changed. Stimulation at nappy-changing
time offers a great distraction and can make it a fun time for both you and your baby.
Target domain: listening and vision
What You Need:
Change mat
Nappy
Wipes
Activity:
Talk to your baby in a playful voice whilst changing his nappy - this will help him to focus on
your voice rather than what's happening to his bottom!
Hang a mobile over the changing mat with black and white and contrasting colours. This will
help him to focus and develop his eye muscles.
Toy
Hankerchief
Activity:
Babies love to get little surprises.
Take his favourite toy and hide it under a handkerchief.
Ask him the question: Where is your toy ( you can name the toy)?
Then uncover the toy excitedly.
Repeat often and soon he will be copying you.
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Toddlers
Balls
Bean bags or buttons
Hula hoop or similar
Domain target: gross motor development, eye-hand coordination
Method:
Throwing and catching are skills which are learnt through repetition rather than inherent at birth.
As such your child will enjoy being able to see their improvement during this activity and, if it is
repeated regularly, their improvement over time.
Place the hula hoop some distance away from your child. Give your child the bean bag, ball or
button and instruct them to toss these into the hola hoop circle.
Once your child has done this a few times, have your little one take a step backwards, or move
the hula hoop slightly forwards, to increase the skill level required to toss the item into the circle
accurately.
Modifications : Once your little one has mastered this activity you may wish to increase the
difficulty of the task by reducing the size of the area into which the ball or button is to be tossed.
Where is Thumbkin?
Activity:
Kid's music is a magic way for kids to learn, especially through singing children's songs. The
repetition of the children's song lyrics, along with simple counting and discovery, make learning
kid songs a fun favourite for babies through to school age kids.
Domain target: problem solving
Where is Thumbkin? lyrics
Start with holding your hands behind your back; with thumbs out,
Where is Thumbkin?
Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am (bring out one thumb)
Here I am (bring out the other thumb)
How are you this morning? (make thumb talk to the other thumb when singing that line)
Very well; I thank you (and vice versus with this thumb)
Run a-way (put one thumb back behind your back)
Run a-way (put the other thumb back behind your back)
Hot potato
Hot potato is a party game guaranteed to get the kids and grown-ups laughing. Play with the
whole family or leave it to the kids as they discover the fun and excitement of racing the music
to pass the potato!
Number of Players: 5+
Domain target: teamwork, eye-hand coordination
What You Need:
music
small beanbag or stuffed sock
Activity:
Arrange the children sitting in a circle.
Pass a beanbag around the circle to music, pretending that the beanbag is a very, very, very hot
potato.
When the music stops, the person holding the beanbag is out.
The music starts again and the remaining children continue passing the hot potato until the music
stops.
The last person in the circle is the winner.
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If another player can kick over the can and call out "Home FREE" without getting captured by
IT, the jailbirds are free to run and hide from IT again.
The game continues until all the jailbirds have been captured.
The first person caught becomes IT in the next game.
If jailbreaks keep the game going on too long, the first person who is caught 3 times becomes IT
and a new game begins.
Pillows
Rope
Hoops
Chairs
Ball
Tube - such as the inside of a paper towel roll
Bucket
Method:
Place the various objects in a circular fashion so that your child can clearly see where they are
expected to travel to complete the course.
Once the course is set up, show your little one what you would like them to do at each point. For
example, "jump over a pillow forwards and backwards, roll a ball through the tube or throw it
into the bucket, kick a ball through the legs of the chair, or climb over a rope."
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The course is limited only by that which you have on hand and your imagination.
Modifications: If appropriate, you may wish to include imaginative play with the obstacle
course such as letting your child pretend to be a commando escaping from an enemy, or a fairy
trying to get through the obstacle course three times to be able to win their wings. Similarly, you
may wish to create a story for each activity such as climbing over a fallen log in the jungle (the
rope) and jumping over a crocodile-infested swamp (the pillow).
Activities
Create a photo line
This art and craft activity is designed to improve your little one's understanding of where they
have come from and how they fit into your family.
What you need:
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Water or sand
Measuring cups
Bottles, buckets, tins, bowls or anything that can hold water and sand
Method:
There is no doubt that young children just love playing with both sand and water so why not use
the hours they spend in the bath or sandpit as a learning experience?
While your child is happily playing in the sandpit, ask him to do some tasks for you such as, "Fill
the cup to the top," "Empty the red bowl of sand into the blue bucket." You may also ask
questions such as, "How many red cups of sand fill the blue bucket?" Or show him that the green
cup will fill one quarter of the yellow tin.
Likewise, when your child is splashing around in the bath, teach her some measurement terms as
she plays. You could even put plastic cooking measurement cups in the bathtub as toys.
Note: For this to work your little one is best not to know that you are 'teaching' him about
volume, but rather allow him to hear you using the correct terminology.
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Mother may I?
Mother may I is an engaging party game for children to test their listening skills. Simply choose
a grown up to be "Mother" and start playing. Children will love being able to play as a family or
against their friends.
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Number of Players: 4+
Activity:
One person (probably Mum, Dad or an older child) stands about 6m away from the line of
children.
They then choose a child (at random, or in order), and announce an instruction.
These follow a pattern, such as, "Sarah, you may take 'x' giant/regular/baby steps
forward/backward."
The child responds with "Mother may I?" Mum then states "Yes" or "No", depending on their
whim, and the child complies.
If the child forgets to ask "Mother may I?" they go back to the starting line.
First one to touch Mother wins.
Activities
Make your own bubble solution
Bubbles, bubbles everywhere! Get creative with homemade bubbles by making your own
solution. Follow the simple steps below and there will be bubbles galore!
Number of Players: 1+
What You Need:
6 cups of water
2 cups of liquid dishwashing soap
3/4 cup of corn syrup (glucose syrup)
large mixing bowl
shallow pan
pipe cleaners or wire coat hanger for a bubble wand
adult assistance
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Activity:
Help your child to measure and combine water, dishwashing soap and corn syrup/glucose syrup
in a large mixing bowl.
Leave for four hours and then pour into a shallow pan.
Make bubble wands by twisting pipe cleaners and coat hangers into circles, squares or any closed
shape - the bigger the wand opening the bigger the bubble. Make sure you bend any sharp edges
back so they do not make contact with the opening and don't forget to make a handle with the
end.
Have your child dip the wand into the solution and gently wave their arm through the air to make
bubbles.
cooking salt
food dye
small shells or shapes
magnify glasses
Activity:
Add food dye to the cooking salt and place in a flat tray to dry.
Once dry, hide different shapes or shells in salt.
Provide children with magnifying glasses to look and search for the objects you have hidden in
the salt.
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Pickle
Get your party going with a game of pickle. This is a great kids' activity to get them moving as
they chase each other around. Get them to work up an appetite with this classic birthday party
game.
Number of Players: 3+
Domain target: taking turns, eye-hand coordination
What You Need:
tennis ball
Activity:
Set up two bases around five metres apart.
Two of the children stand on each base and are "it" while the remaining children go to one base
or the other.
The game starts with the two children on the bases throwing the ball to each other.
The object of the game is for the remaining children to time running from one base to the other
without being tagged by "it".
If you are tagged, then you are "it", replacing the child who tagged you out with the ball in hand.
The game continues until the children are too tired to run.
Most kids will love "stealing bases" again and again and hoping that the children on the bases
will throw the ball wild, allowing everyone to steal bases all at once.
Activities
Make a personal dictionary
Improve your little one's letter recognition skills and initial phonemic awareness with this fun art
and craft project.
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Paper plate
Marker pen
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Scissors
Straw
Split pin
Method:
Help your little one to begin reading a clock with this activity.
Mark the hours onto the paper plate. The most accurate way to do this is to mark in 12 and 6 then
3 and 9 and the 1, 2 the 4, 5, followed by 7, 8, and finally 10 and 11.
Once the hours are marked, cut the straw into two pieces one larger and one smaller to
represent the hands of the clock.
Using the split pin, fix the hands to the middle of the clock.
You are now ready to create times on the clock.
Note, it is probably easiest at first for you to make the time and your child to tell you which hour
you have made, they could then have a turn at creating a given hour time. Once single hours have
been mastered, you could progress to half and quarter past the hour.
Extension: Once your little one has gotten the hang of reading the clock that you have both made
you can ask them to let you know when it is a certain hour of the day or when it is half past the
current hour using an analogue clock.
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References