鶹Լ > Activities > 4-5 years
This game is great for helping your child's listening skills and encouraging them to use their imagination.
You can play this traffic light game anywhere! In the garden, inside the house, at the park - or even at the supermarket!
We partnered with the Rangers Charity Foundation to give it a go.
Watch the video below to see how the children at the Rangers Soccer Academy used their footballs as steering wheels whilst pretending to be cars in this classic game.
Red light!
When you open your eyes, you are going to be a fast car. Now wait, what colour is your car going to be?
Blue. Blue!
What colour's your car going to be?
Pink. Pink!
Now, if I hold up a red light, what do you think you need to do? Stop. Stop.
If I hold up an orange light, you are going to walk really slowly with your ball.
If I hold up a green light, what do you need to do? Run really fast! Run really fast.
Now, I want you to pick your football up. Pick it up! This is going to be your steering wheel.
You're going to drive your car around. Now… Wait, what noise does a car make? Broom, broom…Are you ready cars? Yeah!
Now, you're not allowed out of the white box, okay? Three, two, one… Go!Who's the fastest car?Red light!Good…Orange light.How slow can you walk?Get ready to go…Green light.Go! Who's the fastest car?
Red light! Green light! Red light! Green light! Red light!
Go back and stand on the line guys. Let's go. Did you find that easy or hard?
Easy peasy! Easy peasy.
Now, when I held up my green light, what did you have to do? Don't know…How fast did you have to go? Really slow or really fast?Really fast! Really fast.
Coby, if I held up my orange light, what did you have to do? Really slow. Really slow.
And if I held up my red light, what did you have to do?
Stop. Stop. Hands up who found that easy.
Now, high fives and then you are good to go! Come give me a high five, Emily! Good.
How to play red light, green light
Explain to your child that red means stop, and when you shout red (or hold up something red), they must stop. Amber means walk really slowly, and green means run fast.
Following your instructions challenges their listening and memory skills.
Encourage them to use their imagination by pretending to be a car. You can talk to them about what kind of car they want to be and help build their pretend narrative into the play.
Don't worry if you haven't got coloured cones or a ball at home your child can use any object as their steering wheel and you can shout out the colours.
If you have a ball, your child can try dribbling the ball during the game instead of carrying it.
Playing games like this, whether alone or in a group, is a great way to build your child's confidence.
After the game, you can chat about what they've done and if they've learned anything. This helps them practise forming sentences in the past tense and encourages them to reflect on things they can improve.
