What You Need

1 chair per preschooler

Music

Set Up for Cooperative Musical Chairs

1. Arrange chairs in a circle facing out.

2. Allow enough room around the circle of chairs for preschoolers to walk without bumping into things.

How to Play

1. Play music while preschoolers walk in a circle around the chairs.

2. When the music stops, each preschooler sits in a chair. (An adult can decide when to start and stop the music.)

3. After every preschooler has found a seat, tell preschoolers to stand up. Tell preschoolers that you are going to remove a chair and when the music stops, preschoolers must again sit but they will have to figure out how everyone in the game can sit on the chairs. (Remember there is one chair fewer than preschoolers at this point.) Ask preschoolers what ideas they have so that everyone can sit. To encourage problem solving skills, let preschoolers come up with the ideas. Possible answers are share a chair with someone or sit in another person's lap.

4. Play music while preschoolers walk in a circle around the chairs.

5. When the music stops, preschoolers must work together to find a place for each preschooler to sit.

6. Continue removing one chair each round and see what creative solutions preschoolers create so that everyone can sit on the chairs in each round.

Tips for Teaching Cooperative Musical Chairs

Play Several Times: The concepts of working together as a team and cooperating are new to many preschoolers. At first preschoolers may have many conflicts as they attempt to solve the problem of who sits where in each round. View this as a great opportunity for preschoolers to gain cooperation skills.

Ask the Right Questions: To help preschoolers improve their problem solving skills and cooperation skills, ask open ended questions such as, "What do you think would work better for the next round?" and "Who has an idea that might work better next time?"

Expect Conflicts: Because preschoolers are not highly skilled at solving problems with other preschoolers, some conflicts may arise while playing Cooperative Musical Chairs. That's okay because learning to solve the conflicts is part of the challenge of cooperative game playing. Ask open ended questions to help preschoolers solve problems. Call breaks to let preschoolers calm down if necessary.

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Dance is one of the most complete physical activities for preschoolers: it develops bilateral coordination, rhythm, balance, spatial awareness, and emotional expression simultaneously.

• Rest is part of fitness. Adequate nighttime sleep (10–13 hours for preschoolers) is required for physical development, muscle growth, and the energy to be active the next day.

• Physical activity and emotional regulation are directly linked. A preschooler who has had sufficient physical activity handles frustration, transitions, and disappointment more effectively.

• Limit passive sitting to less than 30 minutes at a stretch during waking hours. After 30 minutes of stillness, all preschoolers need a movement break before re-engaging with focused activities.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much physical activity do preschoolers need per day?

The WHO and CDC recommend that preschoolers (ages 3–5) be physically active throughout the day, with a minimum of 3 hours of physical activity daily — including 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous intensity. This can be accumulated across multiple sessions. Most preschoolers meet this recommendation easily if given outdoor access and unstructured play time, but children in settings with limited outdoor access or high screen time frequently do not.

Related reading: See also our indoor gross motor activities and our outdoor chalk activities for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🎵 Rhythm & Timing — Moving to a beat, keeping rhythm in marching or clapping, and coordinating movement to music develops the temporal processing that underlies both musical ability and the phonological timing needed for reading.
• ❤️ Cardiovascular Health — Vigorous physical activity that elevates heart rate and quickens breathing builds cardiovascular fitness — and active preschoolers develop not just physical health but the energy, sleep quality, and mood that support learning.
• 🤸 Flexibility & Agility — Stretching, bending, and quick direction changes develop flexibility and agility — the physical qualities that support athletic movement, injury prevention, and the body confidence that active children carry through life.
• 🤝 Social Skills & Teamwork — Physical games with partners or groups teach children to cooperate, cheer for others, follow a leader, and recover from competitive disappointment — the social-emotional skills that classroom cooperation requires.

by Kelly Pfeiffer

Keep preschoolers active with an indoor game of Cooperative Musical Chairs. Preschoolers are gradually learning the meaning of cooperation. Cooperative Musical Chairs is a fun fitness game that introduces preschoolers to a new concept in musical chairs – teamwork! The whole team of preschoolers is needed for every round of Cooperative Musical Chairs so no preschooler is "out", only another chair is "out" each round. While playing Cooperative Musical Chairs, all preschoolers play every round of this indoor fitness game which means that preschoolers get exercise benefits and stay active throughout the game.