joy of moving method
TRANSCRIPT
JOY OF MOVINGMETHOD
WELCOME TO JOY OF MOVING!
Joy of moving is an innovative and original educational method,the result of decades of research and experience of movement experts,that encourages children to get moving through play. Here you will fi nd
the underlying principles of the method and see how, since its inception,it has truly taken off all over the world. With its numerous developments
and partnerships, and by virtue of its games, it has contributed to bringing joy and intellectual nourishment to all the children who have embraced it.
By the end of the last century, the fundamental rights of the child had been recognized, yet still today the world is lacking in interventions with regard to a commitment to creating safe spaces, making resources available, dedicating attention and time to the healthy and comprehensive growth of children and young people.
In many areas of the world with high levels of degeneration, where the right to life is not guaranteed, and in the most disadvantaged social groups of advanced nations, it is povertythat denies children the right to play with their families and, therefore, to develop and consolidate the precious parent-child bond.
In wealthier societies, however, the right to play is hindered by a limited vision of it, regardingit as an empty moment in which movement is a mere tool to combat a sedentary lifestyle.The tendency is to continuously plan structured and organized activities, thus removingthe time and space dedicated to spontaneous play, leisure and creativity. Adults often adaptthe child to their world, ignoring their distinctive characteristics and specifi c needs.
Play, on the other hand, is both a natural and cultural fact phenomenon,it integrates many useful elements to satisfy the needs for childhood growth and experience, and characterizes the process of evolution that will leadthe child towards adulthood.The child’s needs and the creative exploration of its surroundingsare the main elements that inspire the games and the Joy of moving educational method.
The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation,which should be directed to the same purposes as education;
society and the public authorities shall endeavourto promote the enjoyment of this right.
Seventh principle of the UN DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD(New York, 1959)
Every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely
in cultural life and the arts.
UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD.Article 31, November 1989
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INDEXKINDER GETS JOY MOVING WITH ITS JOY OF MOVING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT
THE JOY OF MOVING METHOD
JOY OF MOVING EDITORIAL SERIES
JOY OF MOVING EDUCATION
THE CIRCULATION OF THE METHOD IN ITALY AND AROUNDTHE WORLD THANKS TO INSTITUTIONAL,PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF BODILY MOTION TO EDUCATINGA CITIZEN. A FOUR-PILLAR MODEL
MOVEMENT GAMES AND DELIBERATE PLAY
FROM REPETITION TO CHANGE.VARIATION AND VARIABILITY OF PRACTICE
THE EDUCATOR’S DELICATE TASK
THE MOTIVATING AND FACILITATING CLIMATE
THE INCLUSIVENESS OF THE METHOD
TASK ANALYSIS OF THE GAMES:HOW TO ANALYZE AND BUILD NEW GAMES
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF JOY OF MOVING GAMES
READY TO GET MOVING? PLAY A JOY GAME WITH US
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Whatever the game, let joy win
Focusing on movement being fi rst and foremost a source of joy for children and taking disciplines, playgrounds and performances out of the equation, Kinder Joy of moving organizes and supports sports education programs, sporting events, student championships; it organizes multidisciplinary campuses to bring children closer to sport, cooperates with athletes and former champions and supports research projects focused on the benefi ts of an active life.
The project operates all over the world with important qualifi ed and experienced partners, including institutions, ministries and universities,4 Olympic Committees, 126 Sports Federations and Associationsand with the ISF (International School Sport Federation).
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Joy of movingnaturally shifts
the attention from performance
to fun, from rivalryto relationships.
Kinder and the joy of being a child
Kinder’s ambition has always been to provide children and families with small, but important moments of joy, conceived just for them.
Not everyone knows, however, that for years Kinder has been committed to pursuing another goal, essential to the joy of children: nurturing their natural predisposition to move and play.
Kinder and the joy of moving
That is the impetus behind Kinder Joy of moving: an international Social Responsibility projectof the Ferrero Group.
The project currently involves 4.6 million children, in 36 countries around the world(Source: Ferrero CSR Report 2019), bringing children and families closer to physical activity engagingly and joyfully, in the belief that a positive attitude towards movement and sportcan make today’s children, better adults tomorrow.
The initiatives of this project are inspired byJoy of moving, a method that comes from play, fostering the motor, cognitive and socio-emotional development of children.
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KINDER GETS JOY MOVING WITH ITS JOY OF MOVING
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT
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THE JOY OF MOVING METHODScientifically validated, Joy of moving is based on movement games created to promotethe individual from a holistic perspective, in other words, designed to involve all aspectsof the growing person, synergistically developing Physical Fitness, Motor Coordination, Cognitive Functions and Life Skills, to increase their autonomy and the ability to facethe challenges of daily life.
Joy of moving is an innovative and original educational methodthat encourages the joy of movement through play.
The brainchild of Caterina Pesce, associate professor of Sports Sciences at the Departmentof Human Movement and Sports Science of the University of Rome “Foro Italico”, the method was trialed from 2012 to 2015 in pre-schools and elementary schools in the city of Albaby the Piedmont Region and Regional Olympic Committee on the basis of a Memorandumof Understanding between the University of Rome Foro Italico, the Olympic Committee,the Ministry of Education, the Municipality of Alba, the Piedmont Region and Soremartec,research and development company of the Ferrero Group, which as part of its corporate social work has supported research aimed at promoting motor, cognitive and citizen developmentin light of the child’s right to play.
Subsequently, it made its international debut during EXPO Milano 2015 at the Kinder + Sport Joy of moving pavilion, fruit of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education, the Olympic Committee, FERRERO and EXPO 2015, engaging over 230,000 visitors who had the direct experience of this innovative playful-educational method.
THE STORY BEHIND THE METHOD
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In 2021, the “Joy of moving family” handbook (Calzetti & Mariucci Editori) was published,edited by Caterina Pesce, Rosalba Marchetti, Pasquale Bellotti, Anna Motta and Mario Bellucci. Created with families in mind, it is designed to support parents in the primary taskof educating children, through play and movement.
The volume includes over 40 games that are easy to play at home or outdoors, presentedin a simple and practical way, and as they do not require any particular equipment,they can be played by all members of the family and in any context.
JOY OF MOVING FAMILY HANDBOOK
Soon to be published is the “Joy of moving multisport” handbook, catering specifi cally for educators whose task is introducing children to the world of sport (coaches, trainers, PE teachers, etc.) in a diversifi ed and engaging manner.
JOY OF MOVING MULTISPORT HANDBOOK
THE JOY OF MOVINGEDITORIAL SERIES
The method was fi rst described in its entirety in “Joy of moving. MindMovers & ImaginAction - Playing with variability to promote motor, cognitive and citizenship development” (Calzetti & Mariucci Editori, 2015), by Caterina Pesce, Rosalba Marchetti, Anna Motta and Mario Bellucci.
The handbook is divided into two parts: the fi rst theoretical part describes the methodological approach (philosophy, method and approach to practice), while the second practical part describes the method’s 80 basic movement games.
A benchmark in school and university training for youth activities in Italy, in 2016 the handbook was awarded fi rst prize in the technical section of the CONI Literary Competition and has been translated into English and German.
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JOY OF MOVING. MindMovers & ImaginAction
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The method has beenthe subject of numerous
scientifi c publicationsand studies in Italy (1)
and abroad (7) and has been presented at national (10),
international (23)and university (4)
conferences.15
On the www.joyofmovingeducation.com platform, there are various online training methods to further explore and experiment with the method (certifi ed courses and webinars),aimed at pre-school and elementary school teachers, Sport Sciences academicsand students, coaches and operators from the sports world and everyday enthusiastsof play and movement.
In Italy, pre-school and elementary school teachers can participate in fi rst, second and third level free courses, certifi ed by the Ministry of Education, which issue a valid certifi cate attesting to the continuous education of the teaching staff.
Furthermore, university students of Sports Sciences faculties can register for specifi c courses that count as education credits.
The various courses include engaging animated lessons on the method, numerous games,a wide range of material and insights to introduce in class and in the gym, as well as an online community where ideas and experiences are shared.
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JOY OF MOVING EDUCATION
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BRAZIL
In 2018, with the support of the Poços de Caldas Education Secretariat, the Joy of moving method was circulated in the school environment with the involvement of 9,000 students and 215 teachers.
SAUDI ARABIA
From 2019, Joy of moving has become a school project recognized by the Ministry of Health and Education, engaging over 250 schools and with 150,000 students involved in the fi rst year.
AUSTRALIA
In 2016, an important 4-year research project was launched in collaboration with Deaking University.
THE CIRCULATION OF THE METHODIN ITALY AND AROUND THE WORLD
THANKS TO INSTITUTIONAL,PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
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ITALY
During the 2017/18 school year, an important study, promoted by the Ministry of Education, on the scaling-up of the method was conducted in a sample of 100 schools across the country.
The positive results validated by an international scientifi c committee have led,from the 2018-2019 school year to today, to the circulation of Joy of moving in Italianpre-schools and elementary schools, with the involvement of over 15,000 teacherswho have integrated it into their teaching practices.
Since the 2019/20 academic year, the SUISM University of Turin has promoted the method in the context of free credits and uses online courses for educational internships.
In the 2020/2021 academic year, the University of Brescia also included Joy of moving online courses in its training curriculum.
The Joy of moving course was also included among the transferable good practicesin the 2019 Guidelines on physical activity in the school setting, issued by the Ministry of Health.
EUROPE
The method has been included among the European best practices identifi ed by the HEPAS 2020 (Healthy and Physically Active Schools in Europe) project.
The Joy of moving method has rapidly gained international
recognition and more and more countries are
actively participating in the program and its
various initiatives.
UK
In synergy with the EFL Trust, a project has been launched that involves 30 football clubsand over 78,000 children every year.
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SAVE THE CHILDREN USA
In 2019, Save the Children promoted Joy of moving in Summerboost Camps, experimenting in an initial phase in 3 campuses in California with over 150 children; in the second year,the fi gures grew to more than 3,000 children on 16 campuses in Tennessee and California.
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Save the Children & Kinder Joy of moving have joined forcesto support children and disadvantaged families, to contributeto healthy growth and encourage children’s natural predispositionto move, play and learn.
SAVE THE CHILDREN ITALY
In 2020, collaboration with Save the Children Italia began experimentally introducingthe Joy of moving method in the activities of three Punti Luce centers in Rome.
THE FIRST KINDER JOY OF MOVING PARK
The result of a partnership between Kinder, the Municipality of Vicolungo and Neinver Group, all united by values that place children and families at the center of attention, creatinga common project of Social Responsibility.
The Kinder Joy of moving Park is located within Vicolungo The Style Outlets in the province of Novara and is a playground for children aged 5 to 12 that covers an area of over 1,700 sqm.
A “facilitating environment” of physical play equipment developed by the Departmentof Industrial Engineering at Federico II University, Naples, provides unique and innovativeplay opportunities for children, stimulating the development of the fundamental pillarsof the Joy of moving method.
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JOY OF MOVING BOARDS COSTA SHIPS
Kinder Joy of moving has boarded the Costa cruise ships of the Carnival Group and every year embraces thousands of children from all over the world, with areas and spaces dedicated to ad hoc games based on the Joy of moving method.
The 200 Costa animators have been tutored by specialized trainers who have passed onto them the skills of the methodology.
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These aspects of the growing individual are like rings of a gyroscope that rotate in an interconnected manner, stimulated by movement games. Motor activity is at the core of the gyroscope.
The method’s movement games are the tools that set our gyroscope in motion, stimulatingthe individual’s abilities.
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We can imagine the motor activities, specially designed accordingto the Joy of moving method, as a gyroscope.When its core is set in motion, all the other rings begin to move accordinglyin an interconnected manner.The movement games stimulate all-round skills, from physical motor skillsright up to life skills.
FROM THE DEVELOPMENTOF BODILY MOTION
TO EDUCATING A CITIZEN. A FOUR-PILLAR MODEL
The Joy of moving method naturally shifts the attention from pure “performance” to fun, from rivalry to relationships, from disaccord to solidarity, from imposed discipline to self-discipline, from antagonistic tension to relational joy. In doing so, it fully contributes to the formation of future active, competent, autonomous citizens, capable of establishing constructive relationships.
This ambitious and key objective is achieved through the development of the method’s four pillars, identifying them as fundamental for an integral development of the person:
PHYSICAL FITNESS:
the ability to sustain both short and prolonged physical effort.
MOTOR COORDINATION:
the ability to perform complex and adaptable movements.
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS:
the ability to plan, memorize, pay attention, inhibit routine actions and thoughts and be fl exible.
LIFE SKILLS:
the ability to set attainable goals, to make decisions on the basis of which to act, create and fi nd solutions in a cooperative and creative way, knowing how to recognize, express and control one’s emotions and knowing how to communicate effectively.
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Motor activity
Life skills
Mo
tor c
oo
rdin
atio
n
Cognitive functions
Physical fitness
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MOVEMENT GAMESAND DELIBERATE PLAY
The games of the method are based on “deliberate play”: they contain characteristics of spontaneous play, which involves free exploration, and of “deliberate practice”, characterized by a series of rules.
Deliberate play is particularly suitable for bridging the spontaneous play of the child and the structured sporting activity of the child, since - despite being a supervised motor activity, with rules and objectives - it is highly variable and adaptable; it leaves ample space for the free exploration of “how to play”, therefore stimulating creativity;its purpose is not performance, but fun and the opportunity to learn while having fun, under the banner of the joy of moving.
Both the educational and the creative, as well as recreational aspects of the game, fi nd expression in the method, in addition to the many forms of movements that characterize the different sports, introduced in a gradual, playful way through a variety of sports.
The games require the individual to perform motor tasks, to perform or not perform actions,to achieve a goal, either individually or in collaboration. At the same time, the game may require physical effort, focus, remembering rules, associating and modifying behavioral responses, surprising the opponent, developing strategies, solving problems and making decisions,expressing and controlling emotions, collaborating and communicating effectively with peers.
All these activities belong to the cognitive, emotional and social spheres, in addition to the motor domain.
Scientists have long been aware of the close relationship between motor and cognitive development. Today neuroscience confi rms this, showing the connection betweenthe development of certain cognitive, perceptual and behavioral abilities and the emergenceof new motor skills.
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The two mythological fi gures of Scylla and Charybdis represent the two “threats” of a reductivevision of movement: Scylla is the intrinsic risk of an early start to sport and performance whenthis does not respect the natural course of the child’s development; Charybdis personifi es fi tnesstraining for children, where a large quantity of movement is merely training for health purposes.
FROM REPETITIONTO CHANGE
VARIATION AND VARIABILITY OF PRACTICE
A unique aspect of the method is the Variability that characterizes the practice: many games are provided with as many variations, which enable educators and families to learn an actual method for inventing, modifying and interpreting games, and give children a range of experiences useful for approaching all sports, avoiding the risks of early specialization in a single sport. The variations offer a wide repertoire of motor behaviors to perform a specifi c motor task. Variability consists in the ability to select from this broad repertoire the best motor strategyfor a given circumstance.
In sports training, repetition is generally the starting point of all learning: the child is madeto repeat the same movements until they are learned; often the movements are broken down, trained separately, and then put together.
In the movement games proposed by the method, however, thanks tothe variations suggested for each game, the child becomes able to adaptthe motor action learned to use it effectively in other situations as well.
The variations are mentally challenging, but they are also fun and represent a challenge for the child: a powerful antidote against the boredom of repetition and a motivating and determining factor in the growth of self-awareness and self-esteem.
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CHARYBDISFitness training for children
overestimatingthe quantitative aspect
SCYLLAEarly sports specialization
distortion of the performance aspect
Variability of practice to enhance the training aspect of motor
and sports activities
So, here is yet another benefi t of the Joy of moving method: transdisciplinarity, as its main
objective is to providethe growing individual
with skills that impact every aspect of life.
From a cognitive point of view, this style leads to actively inhibiting previously adopted, routine and habitual solutions and engaging in exploration and discovery.
Quality physical education, rich in training content, can dialog with other school subjects and become an important means for achieving more lasting and solid forms of learning.The movement games can provide original and meaningful learning experiences, which will most likely be remembered because they are accompanied by intense emotions that engage the person as a whole, in ways that a single subject cannot.Emotion acts as the glue between experience and learning.
THE EDUCATOR’SDELICATE TASK
The way in which the educator introduces and develops the motor task is crucial forthe mastering of new skills. From game to game, and variant to variant of the same game,they must be able to choose the most valid method for a given motor task: the conceptsof variation and variability also apply to teaching styles, depending on both the contextand the people you are interacting with.
If a reproductive style is preferred, the educator will give the child a model to learnand reproduce, leaving no room for exploration and personal discovery.
A productive teaching style, on the other hand, is indispensable for the developmentof creativity and life skills since there are no given models, and the child must build themfrom scratch:
the children carry out a task that for them represents a motor problemand they are given ample freedom to decide how and in how many waysto solve it.
If the educator believes that there is only one correct solution possible for a given task,they can help children discover it, making them reason with questions that lead themto the solution. Alternatively, they can let the children fi nd, by trial and error, that thereis actually only one possible solution.
If, on the other hand, the goal is to expand exploration in several directions, the educator must give the children tasks in which they have to search for the various possible and relevant solutions to the task.
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THE MOTIVATING ANDFACILITATING CLIMATE
One of the unvarying components of the Joy of moving method is the motivational climate. For everything to work well, the child must always feel accepted and not be scared of making mistakes. Children are more attentive, creatively free their thinking and play with the information held in mind when they are active, happy and experiencing positive emotions in a supportiveand encouraging social climate and feel part of a group. Reducing stress, anxiety, nervousness is essential to create the conditions for quality motor learning and, above all, to have fun.
A carefree, facilitating motivational climate, centered on commitment and enthusiasm for learning, satisfi es the child’s need for competence and gives them the confi dence to express their abilities.
The child used to positively assessing their progress will engagein the games without fear of making mistakes.
Lastly, the need for relationships is particularly satisfi ed when divergent discovery models are encouraged with small groups working on cooperative learning. The skills of cooperation, empathy and responsibility are fostered in this scenario; they learn the value of taking care of others, but also of being the object of care.
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Among the productive teaching styles, divergent discovery and cooperative learning, in particular, facilitate the emergence of the pro-social skills that satisfy the need for relationships.
The facilitating motivational climate removes the fear
of making mistakesand enables the child
to appreciate the success of their effort and the skills
acquired, satisfying their desire for competence
THE INCLUSIVENESSOF THE METHOD
Some studies conducted on the benefi ts of the Joy of moving method have shown that these are even more marked in subjects that are usually at a potential disadvantage when performing physical activities.
Overweight children, for example, exclude themselves from movement activities, afraidof exposing themselves to ridicule in public, or else they are excluded, when the activityitself is based on performance and competition. Joy of moving removes these limitationsand enables them to improve their motor skills.
The method is inclusive and engaging, it does not lead to the formulation of value judgments, it allows each child to express their potential and bring it into the group, without prejudice and respecting the natural stages of the child’s growth. “What you can’t do TODAY, you’ll be able to do TOMORROW”: this is undoubtedly an aspect that tends to encourage everyone to participate in the game.
Finally free from the fear of making mistakes and being judged,children can feel accepted and enjoy the joy of moving.
By getting used to appreciating their progress, putting commitment before performance,in a context that favors the cooperative and relational side, and not just competition,everyone will want to make their own, vital, contribution to the game.
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Productive teaching styles guide the child’s ability to self-determine learning tasks, favoring the achievement of autonomy.
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TASK ANALYSIS OF THE GAMES:HOW TO ANALYZE AND BUILD NEW GAMES
Task analysis is the operational tool with which the adult-educator and the child can create variations to open up new paths and devise new games. The ultimate goal of the method is to enable adultsand children to independently create animated games from the principle behind Joy of moving: games that by providing joy help children grow and by helping them grow they give joy!
This tool will help you understand:
- the abilities, skills, functions stimulated by each game and at what level;
- which variations can be used to further stimulate the same skills or to stimulate others that had not yet been called into question in the basic version of the game;
- which teaching styles to adopt in view of a given objective;
- how to tailor activities for each child, working on individual differences.
Task analysis is also the tool with which the educator designs specifi c activities in responseto the specifi c needs and learning methods of the child.
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Each of the 80 games in the “Joy of moving” handbook has a special section called, “Getting into the game” – a task analysis for the more experienced educators, that helps identify the goals relating to physical fi tnessand motor coordination, the cognitive domain and life skills with whichthe game was structured around.
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In games where the improvement of motor coordination prevails, the focus is onthe control or adaptation and transformation of movements, with a prevalence of speed or accuracy, through the consolidation of sequences learned in stable environments and the ability to modify them in changing situations.
MOTOR COORDINATION GAMES
The ability to plan, control and adjust movements of various parts of the body in a harmonious, functional and economical way.
MOTOR COORDINATION
The ability to produce energy and muscle strength to perform physical activities.
THE CHARACTERISTICSOF JOY OF MOVING GAMES
In games designed to improve physical fi tness, the focus is on cardiovascular fi tness through activities with moderate to vigorous intensity for prolonged periods;muscle strength, through short or prolonged efforts, intense or progressive;joint mobility or fl exibility, thanks to movements with a wide range of motion.
PHYSICAL FITNESS GAMES
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Interlimbcoordination
Kinestheticdifferentiation
Balance
Rhythm
Spatio-temporal orientation
Motor reaction
Motortransformation
PHYSICAL FITNESS
CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS
JOINT MOBILITY
MUSCLE STRENGTH
speedstrength resistance strength control
MOTORCONTROL
Body controlObject control
CONTROL and ADAPTATION
MOTORADAPTATION
Adaptation to spaceAdaptation to situation
Once again, how the game is played prevails over the content of the game itself.The games created to stimulate other aspects of the individual are re-proposed to activate the evolutionary process of the child’s self-awareness ensuring that the skills acquiredand the emotions felt are observed, understood, discussed and deliberately developed.
LIFE SKILLS GAMES
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Intrapersonal and interpersonal skills enable individuals to improve their potential, to live the best possible relationships and to be able to managethe stress and challenges of everyday life.
INTRAPERSONALSKILLS
INTERPERSONALSKILLS
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS GAMES
In games where the improvement of cognitive functions prevails, the focus is on the abilityto inhibit, requiring individuals to restrain or inhibit motor actions or routine thoughts based on a rule;on working memory, requiring individuals to retain or manipulate information; on cognitive fl exibility, moving from one stimulus-response associationto another or changing criteria to solve a task.All this enhances the overall executive functions, the conductors of the brain, in addition to executive attention.
In exploratory games, the focus is not so much onwhat is done, but rather on how it is done. Children are asked to “repeat without repeating”, carrying out the same task each time in a different way. In this case,the constraint is on the method of execution: the childis oriented towards creative problem solving through open tasks and games without a limiting structure.In the same way, tactical creativity is favoredin competitive games.
Creativity games
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EXECUTIVE CONTROL
CREATIVITY
Functions of the mind that allow you to inhibit routine thoughts and behaviors, to be creative, to plan and fl exibly adapt your actions.
The ability to fi ndoriginal and pertinent
motor solutions
A form of creative thinking useful in strategic
games where it is necessary to decideand act under time
pressure
Attività motoria
COGNITIVEFLEXIBILITY
INHIBITION MEMORYUPDATING
Attività motoria
MOTORCREATIVITY
TACTICALCREATIVITY
AUTONOMY COMPETENCE RELATEDNESS
self-awarenessemotionmanagementstress managementself-regulationgoal settingpositive thinking
problem solvingand creativitycritical thinking decision makinggoal ladder
empathycommunication relationalcompetencecooperationand teamwork
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READY TO GET MOVING? PLAY A JOY GAME WITH US
A FRIEND IS A TREASURE
HOW TO PLAY
In groups of 5-10 players, one child at a time has to reach their teammate (and reconnect with them) by getting past an obstacle between them (a table) in various ways.
This game engages physical fi tness, motor coordination, cognitive functionsand life skills.
AGE GROUP
7 years +
WHAT YOU NEED
One or more tables, a mat, small balls, or foam balls.
AIM OF THE GAME
This game is geared towards developing problem-solving abilities. To facilitate the transfer of this ability from play to other life contexts, a common scenario is re-enacted (a metaphor for making a decision in a social situation): there is an obstacle (in this case, a table) between the child and the friend which must be overcome in order to reconnect and make peace. The game stimulates the search for new strategic solutions, introducing cooperation and defense against interfering actions.
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If you liked this game, you can fi nd all 80 games in the Joy of moving handbook and on our website wwww.joyofmovinghandbook.com
INSTRUCTIONS
The children are divided into small groups of 5-10 players, each group has a table, or they form a single subgroup with one table.
• One child stands on one side of the table facing the rest of the group that is standingin line on the other side of the table, a few meters away from it.
• The educator encourages the children to identify with this symbolic game, telling them that the fi rst child in the line and the child across the table have quarreled.
• The quarrel is represented by an obstacle (the table) and the children can onlymake up when the fi rst child in the line manages to climb over, get under and thenover the obstacle again to go and hug their friend.
• Once the child has achieved the goal and has hugged his friend across the table,he takes his place, while the child who was behind the table goes to the other sideand joins the line.
• The game continues until everyone has tried to solve the problem at least once.
• Some of the children are enemies trying to hit the child with balls as he gets pastthe obstacle, and some are friends, who try to parry the blows of the enemies and helpthe child to get to the other side.
• The educator will progressively make the task more complex (climbing over the table without touching it with hands or feet, introducing a time limit, dodging enemy balls, relying on the support of friends).
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