This activity on teaching pulse is excellent – you can do it with any class from Reception to Year 6 – it’s highly entertaining – for you as the teacher, as well as for the children!!

In a nutshell it is this – lay out a whole load of hoops on the floor – in a line accross the room.  The children line up and one by one they ‘run’ inside the hoops, putting each foot down on the pulse.  You will need some music with a clear pulse for them to do this to (see below) – when the child has reached the end of the line of hoops, they go back and join the queue.  The activity goes on and on and is highly amusing and excellent for instilling the feeling of the pulse.  I learnt it on an Orff session at a Kodaly Easter school and really enjoyed it – I then did it with my year 4 class – it’s a lesson  high in energy and silliness and I love it!  Highly recommended!

Excellent (and very silly) music to do this to is ‘Jumping Bean’ (Robert Farnon and his orchestra’- find it on i-tunes)

N.B. You will need hall space (maybe do it at the beginning of a P.E. lesson if you can’t get the hall for music?!)

ANOTHER OPTION – have lots of groups of children with fewer hoops per group around the room so they are more continuously involved…

EXTENSION – place the hoops further apart!