Children often know more than they realize, and nowhere is this truer than with physical movement. The following activities help children see how rich their vocabulary is, as well as their powers of invention. The activities are as much a language arts exercise as they are physical or dance education, and in particular they reveal the fine nuances between words grouped as synonyms.

The movements identified and created in these exercises may be used as the basic elements of choreography they create later.

Children will demonstrate and then name at least 20 ordinary ways for a person to cross a room.

A space should be cleared so that one child at a time can cross from one designated point to another (at least ten feet away) while the other children in the group can watch.

A blackboard or large poster paper should be available to write down a list of movements.

Children volunteer one at a time to pantomime an ordinary way of crossing the room.

The other children name each way of moving, and these names are written down in a list for all to see.

After the children can think of no further individual moves, they are invited to pantomime group moves (most likely in pairs).

At the end of the activity, children are encouraged to keep thinking of other ordinary movements that can be added to the list in coming days.

Single movements: walk, skip, gallop, sneak, crawl, spin, limp, hop, somersault, saunter, tiptoe, march, cartwheel, race, skate, stumble, stomp, slither, roll.

Group movements: waltz, leapfrog, piggyback, chase, wheelbarrow.

Children will invent and then label at least 20 new ways for a person to cross a room.

Same as for the previous activity:

A space should be cleared so that one child at a time can cross from one designated point to another (at least ten feet away) while the other children in the group can watch.

A blackboard or large poster paper should be available to write down a list of movements.

Children volunteer one at a time to demonstrate a new way of crossing the room.

The other children figure out a short descriptive name or caption to identify each way of moving, and these names are written down in a list for all to see (examples: "kick-walk," "spinning hop").

After the children can think of no further individual moves, they are invited to create group moves (most likely in pairs).

After the children start building their own Mindstorms robots, they can go back and do this activity again. By imitating machine movement and applying the programming principles they've learned, they can extend this activity tremendously.