Theme of the Week: Intensity

How do you teach the 4 and 5 year olds about intensity?  Easy.

First you make them go different speeds: slow, medium and fast.  Then you make them do different amounts of moves: 2 jumping jacks then 4 then 8 then 16.  They start to get the idea that there are at least two ways to make things more intense: go faster or do more.

Finally, to make the day extra hilarious, you talk to them about attitude.  You make them skip with sad faces, then happy faces, then mad faces and finally silly faces.  Then you make them play a martial game where they get to pick the intensity that the teacher offers them.  Will the teacher go fast or slow?  Will the teacher have a neutral face or a mean face?

It’s surprising how few of the kids want to deal with a teacher with a mean face.  They know that attitude changes intensity just as much (maybe even more) than speed and volume.