Snake In The Grass
Grade Level: 3rd and Up
Equipment: Cones for general space
Directions:
Have one student lay in the middle of a coned off playing
area. He/she is designated the Snake. The remaining students place one
hand on the snake. Make
sure the students don't stand behind one another while
placing hand on student--they need a clear path to move
to get away from snake. After ALL students are touching
the snake the teacher calls out "Snakes Alive".
Once this command is called out students scatter about
the general space trying to avoid the tag of the snake.
Once tagged the student gets on stomach and becomes a
snake. They continue to try to tag others who are not snakes. The game
ends when one student remains untagged.
Teaching Tips:
Keep the general space small enough to enable
the snakes to tag classmates.
Limit speed of travel until students can move
safely (i.e., without collisions) in general space.
Emphasize to the snake that working together is
important to capture the "free movers."
Safety Tips:
Make sure students have their own self space around
the snake and they are not behind other students at the
start of the game. Heads will bump if they don't have
a clear path away from the snake.
Team Leap Frog
Grade Level: 6th and Up
Equipment: A large outdoor grassy playing area, cones,pinnies.
Directions:
Split the class in half by handing every other person
in class a pinnie of the same color (see our forming groups section for
other ways of forming teams). Using half of a soccer field (or another
large open field space) one team gets on one end of the field and the other
team on the other end.
On the teachers signal give one team 45-60 seconds to
see how many people on the other team they can tag and have squatting at
the end of the time. When someone is tagged they must squat down at a low
level. The only problem for the tagging team is that members of the other
team may jump or leap over squatting teammates and that unfreezes those
people so they are up and running again. After 45 seconds, switch chasing
and fleeing teams.
Safety Tips
Stress to students that when squatting they are not to
raise up while other kids are moving over them.
Make sure the field space is large enough to give
fleeing persons room to run and find people on their team to jump over.
A small area defeats the purpose.
Animal Antics
Grade Level: PreK-2
Equipment: Cones, animal pictures
Directions:
Scatter cones around the activity area. Attach various
animal pictures to these cones. As the students enter the activity area
there is a sign posted with the picture of an animal of your choice. The
students must move as they perceive that animal to move to get to one of
the other cones. Upon arriving at another cone they look at the picture
on the cone and move towards the next cone of their choice as they perceive
the next animal would move. They do this until until the conclusion of
the activity is announced by the teacher.
Variation:
Animal identification. While most of the class
is moving in animal actions, a few students try to identify
the animal being imitated by the movement. If they are
correct they become the mover and the student whose movement was identified
becomes the next to try to identify an action.
Teaching Tips:
May want to discourage students from making the sounds
of the animals as that can get very loud. If you want them to do it however,
please encourage them to use quiet voices.
Searching for a Bear
Grade Level: K-5
Equipment: Cones to mark off activity area, a big mat
for the "home base" or "camp"
Directions:
This warm-up activity
uses a story to help students practice their locomotor movements. The teacher
tells the story of movements involved in a bear search and the students
will respond to the teacher directions.
When the students come into the classroom gather them
in front of you in a circle or a bunch formation. It is best to put them
on a mat and call this mat "home base". Then tell them to be very quiet
because they are going to go on a trip today. They are going to go on a
search for a BEAR! Next, ask them what they would bring if they were going
to go on a bear search. Students may tell you to bring tents, first-aid
kits, sleeping bags, flashlight, matches, food, etc. Tell them those
items are great.??Now you would like them to put all of those things into
their imaginary backpack.??Let them actually act out putting the items
in their packpack.??Now tell them to put it over their shoulders and it
is time to start the story and the search.
Teacher states and the class repeats like below:
1. "We're going
on a bear hunt". Class repeats
2. "and we've got
our backpacks". Class repeats
3. "and we've pack
some treats inside". Class repeats (students point to their backpacks)
4. "and we've also
got..(your choice)". Class repeats.
5. "our trusty flashlight
by our side". Class repeats (class taps their hips)
Next, tell the students
that when you go searching for the bear, they will do things such as climb
hills, swim through rivers, climb in trees, go through tunnels, swing from
vines, etc.Ž¢¢÷hen the students start the search, the teacher will say??"You
are now searching through a tunnel."??Students will act like they are crawling
on the floor.??Let them do this for 30 seconds.??Next state,??"now your
swimming though the river."Ž¢¢ôhe students will act like they are swimming.
Let each search go about 30-60 seconds doing 3-4 locomotor movements, then
the teacher will state that they have come upon a cave, end of a tunnel,
top of a hill, etc.??One of these choices will have the bear present. Part
of the trick of this activity is to keep the suspense of finding the bear
alive after doing some of the locomotor movements. For example:
"We have come to
the end of the tunnel...Bear? -class responds, "BEAR?" teacher states "Are
you
there?"..class responds,
"Are you there?"??if no, state "Nope!" and continue search...if yes, yell
"ROAR" and chase
kids to their base (please be careful of this as kids may get knocked over).
Safety Precautions:
After you have the kids actually find the bear the students
need to move safely to home base. Please encourage them to walk or use
a different locomotor pattern other than running.
Frogs and Lilly Pads
Grade Level: K-2
Equipment: Cones to mark off the playing area, Poly spots
(enough for at least 2-3 per child), best NOT touse carpet squares for
this if you are on a wooden or tile floor since students will be jumping
from the spots.
Directions:
Mark off about a
1/4-1/2 the playing area with cones. Use plenty of cones so the children
know where the "pond" ends. Then place plenty of poly spots inside this
area. You don't want to have them to far apart because this age group can't
jump long distances yet. When the students enter the gym tell them
that they are going practice being frogs today and that you have set up
a pond for them to do this in. Explain to them that the poly spots are
the lilly pads and that the only way you can stay dry from the water is
to move from one lilly pad to the other by jumping like a frog.
On your signal ask
them find a lilly pad (i.e., self space) to stand on. Make sure they are
spread out when they first start-they need free lilly pads to move to.
When you say go, they must travel from pad to pad jumping using the two
feet takeoff to the two feet landing method. Tell them that good frog jumpers
make it a habit to "look before they jump". This means they shouldn't jump
until they see an open lilly pad. If there is more than one frog on a lilly
pad they will sink! Remind them to keep their eyes up.
Safety Precautions/Teaching Tips:
It is crucial that you, as the teacher, position
yourself in the area so you can see all of the "frogs". You may have to
stop this activity to demonstrate "looking before you jump" because there
is a chance that students will have a rough time practicing this.
Make sure your pads don't slide too much on the floor as to cause a student
to fall. You might have to sweep before placing the pads on the floor.
Give feedback to students about their jumping
and landing skills (i.e., nice arm swing, nice soft landing, etc.)
Hospital Tag
Grade Level: 2-5
Equipment: Cones to define the activity area and the
Hospital Zone area, cards with physical activities listed on them.
Directions:
For this activity
you are going to ask your students to play a normal game of tag. (Please
have students move using locomotor movements other than running. Hopping,
galloping, skipping is typically a safer and more productive way to complete
this tagging activity.) Designate two taggers and the rest will be chasee's.
When tagged the students to freeze for 5 seconds, understand they know
have a virus that allows them not to move very well, locate you (the teacher/doctor),
and then report to you to get the "unfreezing physical activity medication".
The teacher should be in the hospital area which is designated by 4/5 cones
outside of the tagging and chasing area. When the students get to
you--the doctor--you are to give them a physical activity to do that will
cure them of the ailment and then after they complete it they can return
to the tagging activity. Assign each student who comes a different physical
activity and a different number of repetitions. This is a terrific way
to make a
personal connection with each student.
Some suggested activities to give out as medication:
3 times around the
hospital using a crab walk
Strike a ball with
a paddle 5 times in a row to yourself
5 curl or push ups
High five your teacher
3-5 times (make it high so they have to jump)
Move in a Zig Zag
pathway down and back to a cone at the other side of the activity area
Use your imagination
with these activities and don't just confine yourself to exercises like
jumping jacks.
Variations/Teaching Tips:
Keep your eyes on the game at the same time you
are giving out the medication. If you get too many students then restart
the game or change the locomotor movement so it is a slower game.
Keep the tasks that you give out short and to
the point. When they get to you have 25 cards in a stack in your
hands and they take the top one and they have to complete that physical
challenge. This may take the pressure off you trying to remember every
activity. Set up two hospitals and have a volunteer, a student who
couldn't participate be the person who gives out the medication. You may
want to have cards for them.
Locomotor Lakes, Rivers and Streams
Physical Activity Being Taught: Leaping and Jumping
Purpose of Activity: To help students understand lakes,
rivers and streams using jumping and leaping skills.
Suggested Grade Level: K-2
Prerequisites: Jumping from 2 feet to 2 feet, 1 foot
to 2 feet, and leaping
Materials Needed: Jump Ropes (long ropes and short ropes)
to form the lake, river, and stream on the
ground.
Description of the Activity
The children begin the lesson practicing a leap and a
jump. Teacher demonstration should stress the
importance of the different take-offs and landings in
each skill. Children usually need teacher reinforcement when leaping to
make sure they takeoff on one foot and land on the opposite foot.
The ground should be laid out with jump ropes lining
off a big circle. This is the lake. The lake breaks off
into the river (2 ropes laid parallel, but far enough
apart that children can not jump or leap across). The ropes can be slanted
with one end narrower than the other. This could show how a river looks
at the beginning and the end. The river flows into the stream which is
laid out by two ropes which are narrow. The children will understand that
they can not jump across the lake or river, therefore they must jump in.
You can use a 2 feet to 2 feet or a one foot to two feet jump and landing.
Children will then understand the difference in a river and a stream because
they will be able to jump or leap across the stream. The children are encouraged
to take off on one foot and land on the opposite foot when leaping across
the stream.
The following points can be stressed: 1.The differences
of a pond, lake, river and stream. 2. The way a
river flows. 3.The affect the weather has on lakes, rivers
and streams.
Variations:
The distance of the ropes can be narrower for those
who have difficulty.
Instead of the teacher telling the children the
differences, use the jumping game as a starting point for
the students to investigate the differences on
thier own and report back to the class what they find. The
size of the lake, river, and streams may be changed for various purposes.
Assessment/Ideas:
This is a good way
to assess children in their jumping, leaping, and landing skills. This
activity helps
them understand
the difference.