Lift the Lycra Up & Down

Lycra Song

By using a well-known tune (‘She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain’) the children will pick up the song quickly and be able to join in with the movement elements simultaneously. This exercise definitely requires the leadership of an adult to begin with, to embed the teamwork elements of the activity.

Lycra songs are brilliant for developing social skills and team-work in a fun and accessible way, encouraging cooperation alongside moving and handling skills.

AREAS OF LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

– Making relationships

– Managing feelings and behaviour

Communication and Language

– Understanding

RESOURCES

– A large empty space

– A drawstring bag

– A piece of colourful lycra

– A few cuddly toys

SONG WORDS

Can you lift the lycra up and down?
Can you lift the lycra up and down?
Can you lift the lycra, lift the lycra,
lift the lycra up and down?

5-1 Lift the Lycra Up and Down - Full Song

How to...
Step by step

1.Ask the children to sit a circle;

3.Pull out the lycra and lay it out in the middle of the circle;

5.Practice lifting the lycra up and down to a regular beat whilst singing the song. Stop and remind the children of the up/down movement and the need to all move at the same time, as and when needed.

2.Reveal the drawstring bag and ask the children to guess what might be inside;

4.Ask the children to hold onto the lycra with both hands;

Extension & Development

1.When the group are familiar with the lycra and the initial excitement has worn off, introduce a soft toy and try bouncing it up and down on the lycra. The aim is to keep the toy on the lycra for as long as possible before it falls off.

When they have mastered this, move on to bouncing the toy as high as it will go. Initially this may be hard, but over time the group will learn to apply what they learnt previously, and work effectively as a team to achieve the task.

5-2 Lift the Lycra Up and Down - Teddy Bouncing

2.This activity can be used to help children understand forces, such as forward/backward/side-to-side/in-and-out. Simply change the words from “Can we lift the lycra up and down?” to “Can we move the lycra from side to side?”

When they are familiar with this, get them to suggest a force, and try this out as a team.

3.When pulling out the lycra ask the children to think of other things that are the same colour. It is often easier to initially look for things within the room, blue shirt, blue door, etc. before expanding it further, blue sky, blue sea etc.

When the group are holding the lycra ask them for different action words to use, for example “Can you wiggle the lycra really fast?”

Aspects

Early Learning Goals

Activity Contribution to Goals

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Making relationships

1. Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others;

2. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity;

3. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.

In order for the activities to work, the group is required to play cooperatively, sitting close together, making good eye contact and moving in sync with each other;

With only minimal encouragement, the children quickly realise the lycra activities are only successful when they work as a team, which promotes sensitivity to each other’s feelings and importance within the group.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Managing feelings and behaviour

1. Children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable;

2. They work as part of a group or class, and understand and follow the rules;

3. They adjust their behaviour to different situations, and take changes of routine in their stride.

Children understand they must respect and try out other people’s ideas, and the same respect will be shown to them.

Communication and Language

Understanding

1. Children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions;

2. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events.