You will need a 6-inch black square with a 5-inch red circle of construction paper stapled to a craft stick to use as the red light signal and a 6-inch black square with a 5-inch green circle stapled to a craft stick to use as the green light signal.
Line your pupils up in a straight row by standing them in front of a fence or on a line. Explain to your pupils that the rules for "Red Light, Green Light" are that when you say "Green light" and hold up the appropriate stick, the pupils should move forward. But when you say "Red light" and show the red light, the pupils must stop immediately, or "freeze." Let your pupils know that the game ends when the first student walks/runs past the teacher. Everyone else also can walk/run past the teacher, and, in reality, everyone wins because they are all getting great exercise. Have your pupils practice going and stopping with the stop lights a few times before you play the game if you like.
"Simon Says" can be a circle game or a line game. Tell your pupils that you will say "Simon says" and give them a direction, and they must follow your direction. Give them an example, such as: "Simon says, 'Put your hands on your head.' " Put your hands on your head as you give this direction and look to see that all the students are following the direction. Continue practicing with more directions. As your pupils start to do really well, go a little faster.
Let the pupils know that they will need to really listen well to follow the correct directions. Show them what you mean by saying, "Simon says, 'Put your hands on your head,' " but put your hands on your shoulders instead and see how many follow your "mistake." Also, say a direction without using the words "Simon says" in front of it. Following the direction without hearing "Simon says" also is considered a mistake. Do both of these from time to time to help pupils pay even better attention to your directions.
For the pre-k group, continue playing the game exactly this way, but for the kindergartners, make a "mush pot" so the pupils who make mistakes in following the directions can sit down. Don't leave them in the "mush pot" too long or they will miss out on a very fun way to learn to follow directions.
"Mother/Father, May I?" should start with all your pupils in a line. Start by being the "Mother" or "Father," calling one of your "children" by name and giving them a direction:
"Nikki, you may take three steps forward." (You can also ask them to skip, hop, gallop, etc.)
When you give them the direction, before they begin, they must first ask: "Mother, may I?"
Then, you say: "Yes, you may."
The pupil will then move forward following your directions. If Nikki forgets to ask, "Mother may I?" or doesn't carry out the directions correctly, she will have to go back and start at the beginning. When the first person follows all directions and makes it to "Mother/Father," or the teacher, the game ends.
For this game, you will need a parachute with a hole in the middle large enough for two small balls of different colors.
Have the pupils stand in a circle around the parachute and pick it up by the hand straps or the edge. Show the pupils how to start with their hands down low as the hold onto the parachute, then have them lift their hands high to make the parachute fly up high. Also show the students how to move their hands quickly to make the parachute wiggle.
Place one ball on the parachute and show the pupils how to gently move it around by moving their hands slowly and carefully. Put the other ball onto the parachute and have the pupils move both balls carefully around the parachute.
Finally divide into two teams with pupils on one side of the parachute in charge of one colored ball and pupils on the other side of parachute in charge of the other ball. Have both teams move the parachute carefully as they try to make their ball drop through the hole in the middle of the parachute while trying to keep the other teams ball away from the hole. It is a fun and physical game that needs teamwork for either team to win.