These movement books are the perfect way to inspire playful and creative movement activities in your home, classroom, or therapy practice!
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When we’re planning our developmental play groups or therapy sessions, we typically plan the activities around a kid-friendly theme. Our themes inspire creative new ideas, keep us organized, and give kids some context for why we’re doing what we’re doing.
Sometimes our themes are seasonal (Snow, Valentine’s Day, Christmas) , sometimes they appeal to kids’ interests (Transportation, Superheroes, Fairytales), but they almost always involve a good book.
Books are the perfect way to introduce a theme and to get kids’ imaginations going so they’re ready to jump into the rest of the activities related to the theme! When we’re selecting books to go along with our themed activities, we are specifically looking for ones that will get kids up and moving while we read or books that will inspire movement in some way after we read.
Below, you’ll find some of our favorite movement books for kids! We hope you enjoy them! And when you’re finished with these, check out these great rhyming picture books!
Click on the titles to find the books on Amazon.
Our Favorite Movement Books for Kids
Snowmen at Night
Pair this book with one of our all-time favorite winter yoga lessons – Snowga! Grab the book and then check out the full instructions here for our Snowga Wintertime Yoga for Kids!
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow
Another great wintertime option! This cute story goes great with our Jacket I Wear in the Snow Craft (FREE printable!).
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
We typically pull this one out around Halloween. This is such a fun story and kids will love moving their bodies to match the movements on each page! Follow this book up with our Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything Free Printable Craft!
Barnyard Dance
Kids (and adults!) love any book by Sandra Boynton – always silly, always entertaining, and always catchy! This one is no different and kids will love imitating the animals on each page.
The Very Busy Spider
Eric Carle is another author who has so many awesome movement books to choose from! Kids can practice walking like a spider (crab walking) and walking like each of the farm animals in the book!
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
This is always an exciting read during circle time or other group reading times! Kids love the suspense of the story and they get to move their bodies to recreate each step of the adventure!
Snow Dance
Read this cute book and then have kids make up snow dances of their own! We print pictures of different movements (jump, twirl, gallop, etc.) and have kids arrange them in different sequences to create their own one-of-a-kind dances!
Dinosaurumpus
Kids will love following along with the story while moving their bodies like the dinosaurs!
Brown Bear Brown Bear
Another Eric Carle classic and another great way to introduce animals for animal walks – perfect for building strength, coordination, balance, and more!
Can I Play Too?
Another all-time favorite! Check out this virtual therapy plan that goes along with Can I Play Too?
