Polar Animal Gross Motor Games | Still Playing School

Polar Animal Gross Motor Games

We burned off pent up winter energy on this snow day by acting like polar animals for gross motor fun!


We have been jumping, running, and dancing every day for our Gross Motor Activities from A to Z Series! The weather is so cold and we miss the playgrounds and parks. 

Winter Preschool Theme

Our theme this week is Polar Animals.

We put down blue towels to be our polar seas. Pillows became icebergs. Our preschooler E loves acting so she was shivering in her frigid landscape!



We talked about how animals move from the pieces of ice and she was off! Toddler D joined her in jumping and stomping from pillow to pillow! Can you tell we have lots of energy to get out from these action shots?


After lots of ice jumping we tried a different gross motor pretend play game. We did a homeschool preschool unit on polar animals last year. We reviewed the habits of emperor penguins of the Antarctic for this activity.


After the momma penguin lays her egg she carefully transfers it to the feet of the daddy penguin to incubate. We used a beach ball wrapped in white plastic bags for our penguin egg! 



It's tricky to try to waddle like a penguin parent with a precious egg resting on your feet! The kids loved this challenge! Next the momma penguin returns to the sea to swim and feed on fish. We scattered plastic fish in our "ocean" and E swam around to catch them!


The proud daddy penquin has been patient in keeping his egg warm. It has hatched into an adorable baby chick which is also balanced, carried, and kept warm on the feet of his father!


Soon after the penguin chick hatches the mother returns to feed it some of her fish as the daddy takes a well deserved break!


We learned so much about polar animals in a kinesthetic way as we acted out their movements! It was the perfect activity for a snowed in winter day.

More Polar Animal Ideas for Kids:



Playful Preschool Team Posts:

Polar Animal Literacy Activities:


Polar Animal Science and Sensory Activities:

How do Animals Stay Warm by Rainy Day Mum
Penguin Sorting Sensory Bin by Powerful Mothering
Arctic World by Learning 2 Walk

Polar Animal Math Games and Activities:

Polar Bear Math Game by The Educators' Spin On It
Counting to 5 with Penguins by Life Over C's
Polar Animals Mega Blocks Puzzle by Tiny Tots Adventures
Polar Bear Activities and Books for Preschool by The Preschool Toolbox Blog

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8 comments :

  1. Their frozen faces are fantastic! What a great idea to get kids moving in the winter!

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  2. Oh wow! Fun pretend play at its best!

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  3. What a great way to get active and to work on balance at the same time. They look like they are having a blast!

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  4. What a fantastic gross motor game for kids to play.

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  5. This is fantastic! We are going to play these games this week.

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  6. I love the egg hatching! They look like they had so much fun!

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  7. Oh my goodness, my kids would love doing this!

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  8. Fantastic idea!! Your students are so active dear. I am amazed to see their expressions. Well, I am going to join a Phoenix pre-k pretty soon and would love to have such active kids in my class.

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