Fun with Bows Movement Activities and Games
What you need:
Bows
Gift box
Bell
Learning Goals and Standards:
Gross motor skills
Social skills
What you do:
Preparation
Place all the gift bows inside a decorated gift box.
Each child takes turns pulling a bow from the box. Then the children form a little “basket” with their hands and gently place their bow inside.
As the music plays, the children walk or dance around the room.
When the music stops:
- Children exchange their bows with another child, or
- Children find a partner with the same color bow.
Coordination
Children balance their bow on different body parts — the back of the hand, on the head, on the top of the foot, on the arm, etc.
They move gently through the room to the rhythm of the music while trying not to drop their bow.
Spatial Awareness
When a bell or special sound rings, children drop their bows on the floor.
At a signal, they begin to move again.
When the music stops, each child looks for and retrieves their own bow.
Gross Motor Skills
- Children hop over the bows on the floor.
- Children walk carefully around the bows.
Then, while sitting on the floor spread out around the room, each child:
- Pushes their bow in a small circle around themselves.
- Lifts the bow over their head with the right hand, passes it to the left hand, and sets it down on the left side — then repeats the motion in the opposite direction.
- Pushes the bow forward with their feet and pulls it back with their feet.
- Balances their bow on their back, belly, or while on all fours.
Game: Santa Says
One child plays Santa Claus and gives fun commands:
- “Put the bow on your head!”
- “Put the bow on your arm!”
- “Put the bow on your tummy!”
When Santa calls out “Christmas!”, all the children run away while Santa tries to tag one. The tagged child becomes the next Santa.
Closing
To end the activity, children take turns throwing their bow back into the gift box — one at a time.
