Moving with a friend
* Ask the children to sit in pairs on the floor facing each other with the palms of their hands touching. What happens when they/their partner push their hands forward? Repeat with the soles of their feet touching.
* Join hands and rock backwards and forwards, singing 'See-saw Margery Daw'. Talk about the pushing and pulling movements to make the rocking motion.
* Encourage pairs of children to sit on a see-saw, to talk about how it works and to take turns pushing on the ground with the feet.
* Sit back to back and create rocking movements by taking turns to push against one another.
* Ask the children to sit opposite one another holding a rope and take it in turns to pull, gently at first and then harder. What happens?
Moving on our own
* Ask the children to kneel on the floor and then push on their legs to stand up.
* Sing 'Row, row, row your boat' and create rowing actions by pulling the arms towards the body and pushing them away again.
* Invite the children to move on a climbing frame. Talk about how they pull with their arms as they climb upwards.
Moving wheels
* Provide wheeled equipment, such as prams, trolleys and buggies, for the children to push along a track. What happens when they stop pushing, or push harder?
* Invite the children to choose a bike to ride. Talk about the pushing movements needed to make the pedals go round. What do they need to do to stop or go faster?
* Ask the children to push small vehicles along a smooth surface. How can they make them travel faster?
* Investigate the pushing movements needed to ride a scooter or the pulling movements needed to tow a trailer on the back of a bike.
* Contrast explorations into pushing by providing various toys to pull along. How can the children make them move at different speeds?
Moving objects
* Use small apparatus to explore the pushing movements involved in, for example, rolling a hoop or ball.
* Explore pushing movements with kitchen utensils such as pastry cutters, garlic presses and forks.
* Observe how pushing and pulling can change the shape of materials, for example, squashing a sponge or lump of playdough.
* Invite the children to think about why things happen, for example, when they push a ball under the water and let go, or when they push a doll on a swing.
* Talk about how some things require pushing movements to make them work, such as light switches, doorbells, piano and computer keys. Contrast this by exploring objects that require pulling movements, such as curtains, blinds and bathroom light pulls.
* As the children prepare for outdoor play, invite them to investigate the movements needed to pull on their coats, hats and gloves, and to fasten buttons, zips, laces, Velcro strips and press studs.
* Pull buckets of sand up and down using a pulley system.
Solving problems
* Present the children with simple problems to solve, and then talk about the pushing and pulling movements involved, for example, how to move a box full of toys.
* Explore how small-world trains link together with magnets. Pull some carriages along a track. What happens if a carriage is turned around? Talk about how it pushes away from the other carriages. Investigate this pulling and pushing sensation as other items are attracted and repelled by magnetic force.
Moving creatively
* Create patterns and tracks by pushing print rollers dipped in paint across the back of old wallpaper.
* Dip marbles in paint and push them across sheets of paper.
* Dip string in paint and arrange it on paper. Fold the paper over and push down on it. Pull the string out from underneath the paper to create a pattern.
* Talk about the pushing and pulling movements needed to make pop-up puppets move in and out of cones and to make a string puppet dance.
* Fill an empty washing-up liquid bottle with thick paint and squeeze patterns on to paper, or fill them with water to create patterns on the ground.
* Fill an icing bag with wet sand and create swirling patterns by squeezing it through the nozzle.
* Re-enact the story of 'The Enormous Turnip' (traditional), emphasising how the characters 'pulled and pulled' to remove the turnip from the ground.
For a copy of 'The Enormous Turnip', see the pull-out story in Nursery Topics - Pattern, 30 January 2003.
