Fun circuit play for 4-year-olds: physical activities using balance beams, mats, and more.

9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherShibata Risa
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.

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.

Fun circuit play for 4-year-olds: motor activities using balance beams, mats, and more (11–20)

Milk carton balance beam

This is a circuit play activity where you line up many milk cartons and walk across them.

To keep the cartons from being crushed when stepped on, get creative by stuffing them with folded milk cartons or filling them with sand.

Lay them out in a single row, and occasionally stack them in two layers to create the course.

Have the children walk on top and aim for the goal.

It feels like tackling a maze or a dungeon, so the kids are sure to love it.

Raise the rankinglower

Hamada Takuya

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In conclusion

We introduced circuit play ideas recommended for four-year-olds. There were lots of fun ideas, from using fixed playground equipment and gym supplies to handmade items. Since age four is also a time when vocabulary grows and imagination flourishes, adding a storyline or theme to circuit play is recommended; it helps children immerse themselves in the world of play and enjoy it even more. Try creating a special circuit course that combines various movements so the children can have a blast to their hearts’ content.