Play! Listen! Talk!

This probably hasn’t ever happened in your class, but sometimes when I’m leading kids in a Play to Learn activity that involves beanbags, it doesn’t take much for some energetic throwing to take place! Here’s what I try to do—before and during the game. Before the game, I make sure to demonstrate the kind of tossing we are going to do and why. For example, in this week’s lesson: “Let’s see how many of you can toss the beanbag into the circle. When it lands in the circle, we get to say something we want to thank God for.” Most often, the challenge of getting the beanbag into the circle target is motivation for careful tossing. (And for the kindergartner who always says “That’s so easy!” no matter what the activity is, I give him a special challenge of taking two giant steps back before tossing the beanbag.) During the game, if a beanbag sails across the room, I’m careful to treat it as a simple action to be corrected. “Oops, that beanbag didn’t go where it was supposed to. Let’s try again.” If a child purposefully throws the beanbag in a wrong way, then it’s time for “I really want you to keep playing the game. So to keep playing, you need to toss the beanbag into the circle.” Sometimes, just before the child's turn to toss the beanbag, a gentle touch on the child’s hand is a helpful reminder and no words need to be spoken. And, of course, every beanbag that makes it into the circle is accompanied by enthusiastic clapping and cheering! Games for preschoolers are best when there isn’t too long of a wait to get a turn and when every child can be successful. Games are favorite activities with the kids at my church! I’m thankful for the games, too, because they help me connect with active kids and give lots of opportunities for building relationships. What’s your favorite game to play with preschoolers?