All Fall Down

I love "All Fall Down" from Away We Go ". But we'll do it in just about every class level. From a learning perspective, it works for all age groups. And I love it because it is just plain fun.

On the off chance that you've never experienced the joy of playing "All Fall Down", let me fill in the blanks a bit. There are rules that everyone follows, so that makes it a game. Everyone gets a streamer. Parents, too. And there is music (naturally).

The music has three cues, and each cue requires a specific reaction from the players (these are the rules):

To start, everyone lies on the floor.
When you hear the crank, you get up.
When you hear the music, you dance.
When you hear the descending scale, you fall down.
Repeat until the music is over.

Then repeat again and again and again, until everyone is tired. You'll be physically tired before your child is tired of the game.

Why? Because they love this game. Here are some of the reasons I think they love it so much and will play it over and over again.

Reason One: The need to move is so powerful in the early years that any game or activity that encourages movement is going to be a hit. This particular game inspires total abandonment to movement- it is all about movement. Fast movement, slow movement, moving just your arms as the streamers fly all around you, smooth movements and jerky movements- it just doesn't matter so long as you are moving. No one feels like this game is too hard. No one feels like this game is too easy. So the success rate is 100%.

Reason Two: This game allows young children to address one of their bigger fears as new movers and walkers - falling down. Have you ever seen a child take a tumble, pop right back up, obviously unharmed, burst into tears and dash into mom's or dad's arms? They do that, not necessarily because they got hurt, but because the fall scared them.

A game where falling down is the ultimate goal is a great way to alleviate this fear. The children are in control of the falling; they learn that they can get back up again, that their brain is in control of their body throughout its range of motion. Learning to fall down helps to put the child in control of their body.

Reason Three: The game has a surprising intellectual element. There are no language cues that signal what to do. The child simply learns to recognize the sound of the descending scale pattern and understand that means it's time to fall down.

Initially, they learn by watching the grownups. I am quite sure they learn the musical cue, because after three weeks of playing "All Fall Down" in class the children are now anticipating it; they know when it's coming and get ready. A pre-schooler in "Imagine That!" dashed by me today and said "It's coming Miss Allison!!!" and she was dead on. (She was thrilled to be right- such success!) And they know how long they need to lie on the floor (it's different each time) and they don't move until they hear that crank. Which is connected to.

Reason Four: This game teaches self-control - how to wait, how to follow instructions, how to share the space with a dozen other moving bodies and not crash into them. It teaches deliberate listening and deliberate action. It is a game that is full of purpose.

It is so full of purpose that it's easy to forget the original intent of the activity is to teach the musical concepts of high and low. And it does that beautifully as well.

-posted Originally by Miss Allison from Studio 3, who wants you to head into the living room and clear the furniture and enjoy a few moments of unconstrained, falling down joy.