Bunnies DON’T Hop! (and other Spring-themed Activity Ideas)

It’s that time of year again.

The time of year when Phys Ed teachers, kids yoga/dance/fitness instructors, recreation program leaders “hop” on the Spring-theme bandwagon and design bunny-themed movement programs.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a great themed class plan. 🐰

But I DON’T love seeing or hearing movement educators teach “Bunny Hops”.

You see, bunnies don’t hop. 

BUNNIES JUMP!

Hopping is when you take off from one foot, and land on the same foot. 

Jumping is when you take off from both feet, and land on both feet.

And since we’re here talking about it…
Leaping is when you take off on one foot, and you land on the other.

Knowing the difference between these fundamental movement skills, and using the correct terminology for what you are teaching is a key element in movement education.

You wouldn’t teach a kid to label their feeling of being “sad” as “angry”. 

So don’t teach them to label a ‘jump’ as a ‘hop’.

It’s time to do some Spring Cleaning of your cueing practices and polish up your coaching cues.

Here are some ideas:

“Bunnies jump on two feet - let me see you jump through the space!”

“Bunny Jumps, Bunny Jumps!”

“How FAR can you do your Bunny Jumps?” (Or, How many flowers can your bunny jump over?”

“How HIGH can your bunny jump?” (Or, “Whoa - look at that very tall tree stump! Can your bunny jump over it?”)
“Can your bunny do JUMP TRICKS? Like jumping off two feet and spinning in the air…try to land on both feet!”

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here are some other Spring-themed games and activity ideas for your kids fitness or PE program:

Flower Power Tag

Assign a “Tagger” who runs through the space tagging other kids. When a child gets tagged, they go down onto the floor and curl up into a ball to become a seed. To get back into the game, two different kids must interact with them: one person waters the seed by running their arm over the seed and saying SPLASH (the child can now “grow” and stand tall). A second person can then come by and give the “flower” power by giving them a high-five and saying “FLOWER POWER”.

GROW and GLOW

Kids start by curling up into a ball. You walk through the space and “water” the seeds. Kids slowly unfold and “grow” into a plant/tree/flower. Encourage each child to grow into a different kind of plant/tree/flower by using their arms, legs, faces to make different shapes. Once all the seeds have “grown”, have kids look around and see how each person is different.
SEL Skill: Invite children to say something great about another plant/tree/flower. Eg. “I like how your tree has one big branch (arm) sticking out of its back”

MUSICAL MOVEMENT

Using playful music and imaginative story lines, have the kids connect to music and “explore” a garden using fundamental movement skills. We love the song Garden Path from our DANCEPL3Y Preschool Program, designed to teach kids to jump and leap over flowers!

Or check out this free Follow-Along Bunny Jump/Brain Challenge dance!

Do you have other fun Spring-themed activities you love to do with kids? 

Share them in the comments below!