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Cool Wiggle Games for Kids

Young children tend to have difficulty sitting still and often feel the need to wiggle and move. Children also have very short attention spans, requiring frequent changes in activities. Meet children's needs for movement by incorporating games that let children wiggle while still helping them learn basic concepts about shapes, animals and body awareness.

Shapes
- PreschoolRock.com suggests combining movement and practicing shapes. Use masking tape to outline a large shape on the floor. Encourage children to march, hop, skip or crawl around the shape. Alternately, invite children to lay down on the tape, using their bodies to form the shape. A third option is to have the children search the room for objects that are the same shape and place them inside the tape outline.
Zoo Keeper
- Children can imitate zoo animals in a game adapted from PreschoolRock.com. Choose one child to be the zoo keeper. The zoo keeper announces, "I'm walking through the zoo, and I see a _____." Fill in the blank with the name of a zoo animal. The other children begin moving and sounding like the animal. The zoo keeper calls out, "Back to your cages!" and the children immediately resume their positions and stand quietly. Any child caught still acting like an animal becomes the next zoo keeper.
Scarves
- Children can dance with scarves.
  
  The Fit 4 Fun Fitness website recommends using scarves to release pent-up energy. Incorporate scarves into basic exercises such as jumping jacks, arm circles and toe touches. Help children build arm strength by waving scarves through the air in different directions or at different speeds. Show them how to toss a scarf in the air and catch it on the head, back or knee. Play music and allow children to wiggle the scarves to make them dance.
Yoga
- Yoga offers children a way to move and stretch their bodies while enhancing self-awareness. Yoga Journal recommends teaching basic yoga poses such as the tree, cat or mountain poses. Allow children to make noises or vary the poses. Emphasize the feeling of focus and wellness that yoga can bring.
Songs
- Many popular children's songs involve movements and actions that help drive away the wiggles. Children can review the names of body parts with songs such as "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." The "Hokey Pokey" song also offers practice naming body parts and distinguishing right and left. Children learn to coordinate body movements to skip in a circle when singing "Looby Loo."

Kids Games