Hop, Skip, and Crawl Preschool Relay Race

By Charlene Haukom

Turn an ordinary relay race into a fun-filled challenge for preschoolers! Why just run if you can hop, skip, and crawl to the finish line? This preschool relay race will have your preschoolers begging to play again!

What You Will Need

Soccer or traffic cones
Space to play

How to Play

1. Set the cones up a few yards apart. You will need 4 cones per line. Each line should have 3 preschoolers.

2. Designate each preschooler as a hopper, skipper, or crawler. Skipping is tough for some preschoolers, so make sure your skippers know how to skip before starting the race.

3. Hoppers should stand by the first cone in the line, skippers by the second cone, and crawlers by the third cone. The fourth cone represents the finish line.

4. Ready…get set….GO! The hoppers hop toward the second cone and tag the skippers. The skippers skip toward the third cone and tag the crawlers. The crawlers crawl to the finish line.

5. The first preschool relay team to make it to the finish line wins the race!

Make Hop, Skip, and Crawl Preschool Relay Race More Educational

Turn this Active Preschool Game into an Educational Preschool Game. Reinforce preschool shapes by creating a square, rectangle, or circle with the cones.

Variations of Hop, Skip, and Crawl Relay Race

If you only have two preschoolers, have them race each other. Each preschooler will have to hop, skip, and crawl at the designated cones. Only one preschooler? Run the race with a timer.

Make Hop, Skip, and Crawl Relay Race More Challenging

Instead of having a preschool relay team, each preschooler should run the whole race. Write HOP, SKIP, and CRAWL on separate pieces of paper. Tape the signs to the cones. Now the preschoolers will have to read the signs in order to know whether to hop, skip, or crawl to the next cone. Don’t worry if the preschoolers can’t read the whole sign – as long as they know the alphabet, they’ll be able to guess the words by identifying the first letters.

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