Moving with bricks
Have fun with bricks, by moving them in different ways around your body, making noise and copying each other!
Download a fully illustrated pdf, or print this webpage.
"He came up with a lot of creative moves and played for a long period"
Skills you will be engaging
Physical - moving your body
Social - copying, lauging together, talking, listening
Creative - making up actions
Cognitive - watching, remembering and copying actions
Emotional - having fun
You will need
4 bricks (DUPLO bricks are best as they are bigger)
Both players need two bricks, any colour is fine, but make sure you and your child have matching colours
How to play
Get a matching pair of bricks each. Explain that you will be copying each other, "See if you can do what I do!".
Tap the bricks above your head so that they make clicking sounds. Ask your child to copy by saying, "Now you do it".
Tap the bricks in front of your chest. Say to your child, "Now you do it".
Keep going, trying different movements, e.g. behind your back, behind your knees, down low, up high. You might even come up with a dance! Why not try tapping them on different surfaces around the house?
Talk while you play
Take a few moments to watch what your child is doing. Notice and comment on what is happening, e.g. "I can hear your bricks when you tap them together".
You might like to ask your child some questions, e.g. "Shall we make a quiet tap or a loud tap?" or "How many actions can we put together in a row?"
Adapt the activity
Feel free to adapt the activity to meet your child's individual needs. The important thing is that everyone is relaxed and having fun, don't worry if you don't follow the instructions perfectly.
Make it easier
Say the action as you do it. For example, "above your head", "behind your back".
Practice the same action a few times.
Guide your child through the action by gently holding their hands and moving them to tap the bricks.
Join in. If your child creates an action, copy them and see what happens.
Let's do a challenge
Swap! Let your child create the actions and show you waht to do.
How many different actions can your remember and copy in one go?
Add some music to your actions and move the bricks in time to the music.
Swap bricks. Make different movements with different coloured bricks.
Ask someone else to join in.
Include friends and siblings
Let one child create an action for the other child to copy.
Encourage the children to take turns copying each other.
Let the children make up a set of actions for you to copy.
"She was very engaged and loved to make sound patterns with the bricks."