Educacion Fisica

Every Friday at the preschool where I volunteer we have educacion fisica (physical education). Calpulli itself doesn't have a very large play area for the kids so during the weekly exercise time we go down the dirt road to a basketball court. The routine begins in the classroom with all the students lining up and listening dutifully to empty threats that if students don't listen we will return from the court and do work. We all tramp down the road together, trying to avoid potholes and slipping on loose gravel. Upon arrival we get the kids lined up on the far end of the basketball court and we do random stretches. If you haven't worked with young kids you might not know that their coordination and fine motor skills required for balancing aren't so developed so this part of the day usually involves some funny tumbles or ridiculous interpretations of the shoulder stretches that Jazmin, the main teacher, or myself are trying to demonstrate. Squats seem to also be a preferred exercise so we do some of those. This week I threw in some downward dogs and planks. Once warmed up we proceed to march, skip, take giant steps, etc around the outside of the court, followed by animal movements. I wasn't quick enough to get a shot of all the little crab walkers coming towards me....

One of the favorite games of the kids is a chasing game that features a cucaracha (cockroach) on a patio that the students spray to kill, and then spray some more. The cockroach, a single student, topples over dead. When everyone draws closer to see if the cockroach is dead, low and behold, it springs back to life and chases everyone! This is made all the more fun with a little chant before we all run, and the fantastic shrieks as everyone tries to escape the cockroach.

Though it appears somewhat chaotic to me, the kids seem to totally enjoy the chance to run and climb around on the basketball court. This week's visit was a short one because we needed to get back to class to work on the feeling of the day - sadness.

Here we all are, trooping back up the hill.