Personal "Spaceships"

When I taught middle school PE, everyone had a number and for the first 5 minutes of class I would yell, "Get on your number" (my loud voice came in very handy). While we have the luxury of a gym, we have no numbers in our gym, nor do I expect the kids to remember their "number". Funny thing about preschoolers, they are very in to their age, so if I were to assign the number 7 to a 4 year old, I'd never hear the end of "I'm not 7, I'm 4".

When I taught elementary school PE, we lined up on lines on the basketball court.

Teaching preschool PE, one of the first things I had to do was figure out how to get the kids organized so they can all see me, and more importantly, so I can see them.

Thankfully, a few years back the church's youth group purchased these astroturf circles, and I knew just where they were stored. These were purchased at Ikea for about $2 each, and are awesome because #1 they are all the same color, and #2 they are the perfect size for kiddos to sit/stand in and "stretch".

Another "tricky" thing about preschoolers is teaching personal space. Like how to stand next to someone, without standing on top of them. But a cool thing about preschoolers is their imagination, so these green circles have been named "spaceships" and everyone gets their own, so we all stand on our "personal spaceships" and I can explain our activity and know hands are being kept to themselves and I can see that eyes are watching and ears are listening. And I put them out before the kiddos arrive so when they go to their spaceship they are spaced out appropriately.

So parents, if your child comes home talking about spaceships, this is what they're referring too :)