Eyes on Early Years Volume 17 | Page 11

3. Horses and carriages A game for 2 children, one stands inside the hoop holding the hoop at their waist level with it touching their tummy, another child then holds onto the back of the hula hoop – they are not inside the hoop. The child inside the hoop is the horse, the child outside is in the ‘carriage’. ‘Giddy up horsie’ and off they go! Lots of fun running around. You can also extend this by adding more hoops and children to make a train – only one child inside each hoop to make this work safely. 4. Skipping with a hoop The hoop is an easier way to teach skipping, no rope to get tangled. Have the child hold the hoop vertically in front of their body. From there they can flip it down toward their feet, step over it, and bring it back behind and up and overhead. As the child gets more confident and co-ordinated they can start to jump over the hoop and speed everything up