Big Top Warm-Up
Category: Games & Activities · 3-page printable PDF · Ages F-2, 3-4 · Free for ConnectedPE members
A cooperative circus-themed warm-up sequence — six acts for the whole class, zero equipment, 18–20 minutes, indoors or out. Students move through the big top as tightrope walkers, jugglers and acrobats, with every act requiring partners or groups to work together rather than perform solo.
The cooperative design is the point: this is a warm-up that trains connecting and contributing, not just raising heart rates. Students use body language and verbal cues to support partners, and the circus framing gives shy movers a character to inhabit. Mapped to the personal-social strand (AC9HPEF05, AC9HPEY204, AC9HPEY404) — genuinely assessable cooperation, not just movement prep.
Three pages for F–4. Use it as the standing warm-up for a gymnastics or creative-movement unit, a cool-down with the energy dialled back, or a full mini-lesson on what helpful teamwork looks and sounds like.
What students learn
Students cooperate with partners and groups; use body language and verbal cues to support partners; recognise how contribution affects group success
Topics: warm-up, cooperative, circus, zero equipment, cool-down, PSCH, connecting, contributing
Curriculum links
- AC9HPEF05
- AC9HPEY204
- AC9HPEY404
Related PE resources
- Game Down! — Ages 5-6, 7-8, 9-10
- Drop the Beat — Ages 5-6, 7-8, 9-10
- Water Warriors — Ages F-2, 3-4
- Sun Safe Heroes — Ages F-2, 3-4
- Number Movers — Ages F-2, 3-4