Get Moving Together
Sesame Street in Communities
May 21, 2024
Looking to incorporate more movement in your child care for Physical Fitness Month? You can join in on the fun too! Our partners at Sesame Street in Communities have resources to help you and the kids moving.
Workout With Grover (Video)
Exercise along with Grover in this silly workout video!
- Move along together to this furry blue workout—as many times as you’d like!
- Then, use your camera phone (or any device) to make up and record an exercise video of your own. You might borrow some of Grover’s moves, or you can come up with a whole new routine of your own.
- Next time you’re looking for a quick and fun workout, replay the video and dance along together. As you go through each move in the routine, point out the body parts that you’re using and strengthening (legs, hips, biceps, and so on). You can also use fun action words like jiggle, wiggle, stretch, and bounce.
Move Along With Elmo (Video)
Watch the video together and move along! Then play the video again. Turn down the volume and sing on your own, substituting kids’ names for “Elmo” (“________’s got the moves”). Encourage kids to sing along and use other names in the song—yours, a friend’s, a sibling’s, or names of other Sesame characters. (For groups, add a rule: when one child’s name is called out, it’s their time for a dance solo, then it’s their turn to call someone out next.)
Sing the song whenever you want to help kids channel extra energy! Try replacing some of Elmo’s moves (and words) with your own favorites (for instance, instead of a “wiggle and a jump,” try a “hop and a shimmy”).
Read & Move (Storybook)
Get your kids moving and grooving with the Muppets!
- As you read the story together, invite kids to stand up and move along with each Muppet. You can join in, too!
- Then have little ones make up their own fun moves and add their names to the chant (“Twist, turn, jump, and swirl—________’s got the moves!”).
Movement Squares (Printable)
Play the game as described on the printable page. Then try a variation:
- Ask kids to pick several squares and make a sequence of moves.
- Print multiple copies of the page so that you can have multiple sets of cards, and create patterns (such as skip, jump, skip, jump).
- Play a version of “Simon Says.” If you say “Elmo Says” before a move, children can move. But if you only say the move (without “Elmo Says”), kids can’t move!
- Encourage kids to include some stretches between moves, following the same format as the rest of the cards (“Stretch like a rubber band”).
- Keep the cards in an envelope so you can play anytime, anywhere.
Grover’s Playground Workout (Game)
Screen time can also be healthy movement time! Play the game and invite kids to move along with each Muppet.
For more resources, visit Sesame Street in Communities’ Physical Activity Topics Page.