Teachers, parents, out of school care co-ordinators - are you looking for new activity ideas?

Ones that are quick, easy and inexpensive to implement?

Do you want to support and encourage children to engage in active creative play?

Do you have hula hoops and don't know what to do with them?

We understand how busy teachers and parents are, so we have done all the thinking for you.

In the Creative Hoop Play for Kids book we don't just give you clearly outlined activity ideas, we give you ten complete 30 minute session plans which include suggested music playlists, optional Te Reo words and phrases, and printable resource sheets. For this programme we worked hard to come up with unique, interesting and practical activities for young children. It has been tried and tested for three years under the name of Hoop with Heart, and now we have reformatted the programme to make it accessible and able to be used by anyone around the world.

While the lesson plans in this book were designed and written primarily to meet the needs of New Zealand early childhood services, everything in this book can be used universally to facilitate hula hoop-based activities for 3-7 year olds anywhere in the world. The Maori language (Te Reo Maori) component of the activities is optional, and the Maori myth story-lines provide an interesting introduction to international stories. Many of the activities are designed to be performed with music and suggested songs are listed as part of the activity session plans. These songs can all be accessed on Spotify, and other music databases. Similarly themed songs can be used as substitutes.

One of the key unique aspects of many of the activities in this book is that they encourage children to use hula hoops in creative and imaginative play. Imaginative and pretend play is an enjoyable and productive way to develop language and social skills, and emotional intelligence. The combination of whole-body movement and use of imagination facilitated by many of the activities in this book effectively builds new neural connections, and stimulates cognitive and brain development. Mindful, creative, and music and movement activities such as those described in this book also foster physical and emotional wellbeing. Best of all, they're fun!

Bernadette Smith, aka The Hoop Lady, has been teaching people how to hula hoop for over ten years, and facilitated the activities described in this book with groups in pre-schools for three years. Bernadette's energetic and heart-centred work sharing the benefits and joy of hula hooping was recognised with the 2018 New Zealand Register of Professionals Award. This REPs award is presented to a role model who reflects the ethics and values of exercise facilities and professionals in New Zealand.

Janine Lattimore trained as a Primary teacher, and has been facilitating and creating programmes and activities for children and young people for over 30 years. She worked alongside Bernadette teaching hula hooping with adults and children for three years.