Fun circuit play for 4-year-olds: physical activities using balance beams, mats, and more.
By the time children are four years old, they can control their walking and running speed on their own and are able to perform more complex body movements such as skipping and hopping on one foot.
Many teachers may be thinking about incorporating activities that let children move their bodies to the fullest during this period of significant motor development.
So this time, we’re introducing circuit play ideas recommended for four-year-olds.
From activities that use equipment like horizontal bars, vaulting boxes, and mats to those that let children move while enjoying an imaginative world—pretending to be animals or avoiding “dangers”—we’ve gathered circuit play ideas perfectly suited to the development of four-year-olds!
These activities can be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors, so please use them as a reference.
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Fun circuit play for 4-year-olds: movement activities using a balance beam, mats, and more (1–10)
Crawling through a spider web
This is a spiderweb crawl where kids slip through a web of crisscrossed strings! Wrap packing tape or similar around a horizontal bar at random, and let children crawl through the gaps.
They’re free to choose which part of the body goes in first and which gap to thread a foot through.
Flexible kids might wriggle through in amazing positions that adults could never imitate.
Please supervise closely so they don’t get carried away and strain themselves with awkward postures.
And teachers, be careful of your backs—watch out for things like sudden back strain when demonstrating!
Mat Tunnel
With a mat and three hula hoops, you can make a fun tunnel.
Because the tunnel has no roof, kids are less likely to feel scared and can try it more easily.
The rounded base requires them to keep their balance, which helps build core strength.
As a bonus, if you wiggle the hula hoops while they’re crawling through, it becomes even more fun.
You can make it right away with just what you have on hand, and cleanup is a breeze, so it’s a highly recommended activity.
Give it a try!
Tunnel play
Kids love active play, don’t they? Let’s try some tunnel play using various items found in daycare or kindergarten! You can cut holes in newspaper or use the frame of a vaulting box, and add variety by arranging them vertically or horizontally.
You could also make lots of tunnels out of things like string or plastic bags and set them up like an obstacle course—kids are sure to love it.
Fun circuit play for 4-year-olds: motor activities using balance beams, mats, and more (11–20)
Can you jump? Danger zone!
Kids love thrilling play, don’t they? If you add “danger zones” and turn your circuit play into a full-on, thrilling story, it’ll get even more exciting than usual.
For example, try placing illustrations of sharks between the obstacles.
If you say things like, “Let’s hop from island to island!” or “Watch out—there’s a shark!” they’ll get excited and move their bodies in big, energetic ways.
You could also read a picture book beforehand that features something scary and use those characters in your play!
Animal Role-Playing Game
This is a circuit-play activity where children pretend to be different animals as they move through a course and clear obstacles.
Use long benches, colored cones, and blocks to create the course and set up obstacles.
Since they crawl on all fours or jump while acting like animals, they can get plenty of exercise even indoors.
Imitating a flamingo by standing on one leg also helps develop balance.
It might be great for expanding children’s interests to have them try animals they don’t know, too.
Advance to fit the shape and jump!
If you place sheets of paper with footprint illustrations, they’ll create an eye-catching, friendly circuit for kids to play on barefoot.
By stepping along to match the left and right feet in the illustrations, it becomes like a hopscotch-style game and can help improve motor skills.
Lately, more children are having trouble hopping well, so it’s a good idea to include plenty of single-leg steps on purpose.
Of course, feel free to adjust it for your class or combine it with other items.
Be sure to stick the paper down securely so feet won’t slip!
Net crawl-through
Crawling through a net fixed to the floor is a perfect circuit activity for strengthening the legs and hips! Adults can probably imagine how tough belly crawling can be.
Kids, being lighter, might seem like they can do it better, but it’s still a full-body workout.
If you move while holding a ball or pull something along as you go, the difficulty increases because you also have to watch that the items don’t get caught in the net.