🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 😌 Emotional Regulation — Physical activity is one of the most effective emotional regulation tools available to preschoolers — vigorous movement releases stress hormones and resets the nervous system for calm, focused engagement with other tasks.
• 🏅 Physical Confidence — Successfully completing a physical challenge — climbing something scary, jumping a gap, learning a new skill — builds physical self-efficacy: the belief that effort leads to capability, which transfers to all learning domains.
• ⚖️ Balance & Coordination — Activities that challenge balance — hopping on one foot, walking a line, navigating obstacles — develop the vestibular and proprioceptive systems that underlie all coordinated physical movement.
• ❤️ 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.

Gather red and green items and you're ready to lead preschoolers in a festive fitness game of Red to Green. This holiday party game teaches body parts, thinking skills and coordination while keeping preschoolers physically active. Red to Green can be played two different ways depending on the age and ability level of the preschool players. Red to Green Solo is recommended for preschoolers under age four and Red to Green Partner version is more suitable for older preschoolers. Add this fitness activity to a preschool party to develop coordination and thinking skills.

Red to Green Preparation

Game Props: Each preschooler will need one green item and one red item. Use whatever you have around the house as the props for this coordination fitness game. Props for Red to Green can be special holiday items such as candy canes, stockings, bows or non-breakable ornaments. But props can also be as simple as strands of yarn, paper napkins, index cards or crayons.

One Prop in Each Hand: To play Red to Green, each preschooler holds a red prop in one hand and a green prop in the other hand.

Partner Version for Older Preschoolers

Partner Preschoolers Together: Either allow preschoolers to choose or assign preschoolers to a partner.

Give Simple Instructions: Tell preschoolers that you will call out a color (either red or green) and a body part. After you call out the color and body part, preschoolers touch the colored object to their partner's body part. But when you call "Red to Green", preschoolers touch the two red and green props together. Once preschoolers have learned the basic rules of the game, introduce variations (below) to increase the learning, coordination skills and fun for preschoolers.

Play Red to Green: Call out red or green and a body part. Sometimes call "Red to Green".

Examples:
Red to Knee
Green to Shoulder
Red to Head
Green to Ear
Green to Elbow
Red to Foot
Green to Ankle
RED to GREEN

Variations to Try

RED to GREEN means "Switch Partners": After preschoolers have learned the basic rules, tell preschoolers a new action for Red to Green. Instead of only touching the red and green objects together, "Red to Green" now means touch the red and green props together AND find a new partner.
 
Increase the Difficulty of the Body Parts: When preschoolers show you that they know their basic body parts, call more difficult body parts such as ear lobe, fingernail, arm pit.

Solo Version for Younger Preschoolers

Because younger preschoolers do not have the social skills to work well with a partner, try "Red and Green Solo Version" in which preschoolers touch the red and green props to their own body parts. Young preschoolers will still learn coordination and thinking skills but with game rules appropriate to their ability level.

Give Simple Instructions: Tell preschoolers that you will call out a color (either red or green) and a body part. After you call out the color and body part, preschoolers touch the appropriate prop to their own body part. But when you call "Red to Green", preschoolers touch the two props together. Once preschoolers have learned the basic rules of the game, introduce variations (below) to increase the learning, coordination skills and fun for preschoolers.

Play Red to Green: Call out red or green and a body part. Sometimes call "Red to Green".

Examples:
Red to Knee
Green to Shoulder
Red to Back
Green to Ear
Green to Elbow
Red to Foot
Green to Tummy
RED to GREEN

Cautions and Considerations

Use Safe Props: Make sure to use red and green props that do not have sharp edges.

Avoid Calling Parts of the Face: Because preschoolers are not highly skilled at impulse control and muscular control, avoid calling out parts of the face. Preschoolers may accidentally place props too close to eyes, nose or the mouth of other preschoolers.

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