Category Archives: 1. Kindergarten

School: Long Rope Jumping Activity

Date
Posted by

 Long Rope Activity for All: School  

red polejump ropeThis activity works well with grades 1st to 5th.  It’s also a great recess activity.

Equipment: One long rope with one end attached to a wall or pole. At our school we like to attach the rope to a moveable post that can be easily moved around the gym or outside.

  • The teacher is the rope turner.
  • Students line up at one end behind a cone, facing the rope and the teacher begins to turn the rope.
  • Students take individual turns to see if they can pass the grades K-12.
  • One advantage in doing this with a large group of students is that the turns are fast at the start. This gets more involvement with everyone in the line, because they are not just standing and watching everyone else jump. You can certainly continue beyond 12th grade, if the line is shorter and there is time.
  • To pass Kindergarten: Students must run through the rope.
  • 1st Grade: Run into the middle and make one jump, then run out the other side, and run around to the end of the line.
  • Students continue to run in to the middle and make the number of jumps that corresponds to each grade level.
  • If you fail to make the jump for a certain grade, you may try that grade again on your next turn, though we usually give some leeway, so we create a more inclusive atmosphere..
  • It helps to put a line on the floor where the rope hits when you’re turning it. There is a tendency for many students to run past the best place to jump the rope, which is in the center of the rope.

Class Jumping Activity: Work together as a class and see if you can get everyone to run through the rope each time it circles around. The teacher will turn the rope with one full swing in between each turn. Students will really have to focus and run hard to do this. You can have the class do this activity a number of times until they are able to do it together.

Ultimate Class Jumping: Do the same activity as above, but this time work together as a class and see if you can get everyone through the swing of the rope with no extra swings between each student. This will be very challenging for any class to accomplish.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Hula Hoops and Polyspots

Date
Posted by
Comments0

Musical Hula Hoops or Polyspots: These items are interchangeable. We introduce them at separate times.

Take Hoops to Gym Homes (Designated personal space)

  • Stand tall on one foot
  • Low balance on one foot
  • Hop on 2 feet out of hoop – Hop back in – 10 times
  • Hop on one leg out of hoop Hop back in – 10 times
  • Skip around hoop forwards
  • Skip around hoop backwards
  • Jump up and do a 360% turn
  • Hoop Spinning: Balance hoop with top hand and roll it forward
  • Back spin technique Bring hoop backwards to the side
  • Throw the hoop forward, flick wrist to create spin
  • Roll your hoop backwards then try to catch it on your foot
  • Partner Hoops: Roll your hoop with a partner at the same time

At Your Hoop:

  • Compass: Feet in hoop – Move hands around outside of hoop.
  • Around the World – Hands in hoop – Walk feet around outside.
  • Skip around hoop forwards, then backwards.
  • Step through your hoop, when it’s standing.

Musical Hula Hoops

Equipment and Setup: Hula hoops are spread around the floor in random order. The teacher gives direction, then starts the music, student move in the locomotor skill indicated. When the music stops students balance on one foot inside of a hula hoop near them.  Then, the teacher demonstrates different actions to complete at the hoop. When this is complete, the teacher gives a different locomotor skill to move in. The warmup continues in this fashion.

  • Slide Step: click heels in the middle
  • Skipping
  • Jogging
  • Galloping

In and Out Hoops:

Setup and Equipment: Hoops are spread out around around the floor in a random manner. On the teacher signal students follow the directions below one at a

  • Round One: Step into as many different hula hoops as you can. Give them about 30 seconds or so to do this. Then stop the music and ask how many hoops they were able to complete.
  • Round 2: Jump with two feet into as many different hula hoops as you can. Give them about 30 seconds or so to do this. Then stop the music and ask how many hoops they were able to complete.
  • Put both feet in and touch the floor with your hand. Give them about 30 seconds or so to do this. Then stop the music and ask how many hoops they were able to complete.
  • Lift the hula hoop over your hand and back to floor. Give them about 30 seconds or so to do this. Then stop the music and ask how many hoops they were able to complete.

When music stops, stand on one foot and balance. Then follow teacher directions and do the following:

  • Jump side to side ten times – both feet
  • Jump forward and back ten times
  • Jump back on two feet – land on one
  • Jump sideways on two -land on one

Hoop Driving: Setup and Equipment

  • One Hula Hoop for each student.
  • Set cones (at least four) up as the outline for a large track on the floor.

Hoop Driving Guidelines:

Today students will be simulating driving a car by holding their hula hoop in the air as if it were a giant steering wheel.

  • Spread students out around the giant circle which is designated with the four cones.
  • Students will be following the directions of the teacher as they move around the gym in a counterclockwise direction.

Driving Actions: Teacher led demonstration followed by the students practicing the skill as they move around the gym.

  • Car Start and Drive Away Snow: Turn the key or tell Siri to start it: Start your engine! 
  • Grease: RED Light – Stop – Stop your car and wait.
  • You Make Me Feel Like Dancing: School Zone – Skipping happily!
  • You Can’t Stop the Beat: Yellow light – Move slowly 
  • I’m a Gummy Bear: Tunnel –  Walk low to the floor 
  • Don’t Stop: STOP – Stop your car
  • Life Is a Highway: Highway – Move faster, jogging and running
  • Yakety Yak: Oil Slick – It’s very slippery, so be careful. Quick turns 
  • Sirens-Remix (Sound Effect) Highway Police! – Pull over to the right.
  • I’m Walkin’:  Flat Tire – Hop on one
  • Cha-Cha Slide Radio: This song is so good on the radio that you are going to pull your car over and dance inside your hoop.
  • Banana Song (From the Minion Movie): Potholes – leap over the holes
  • Vehicle Reversing Beep: Reverse – Walk backwards
  • Happy: School Zone – Skip backwards in Reverse
  • Stuck in the Mud: Jog in place
  • Interstate: Put your Car on cruise control
  • Rain: Hold your steering wheel with one hand and use the other as a windshield wiper.
  • Radio: The song is so good on the radio that you are going to pull your car over and dance inside your hoop.
  • Sunshine: Reach into the glove compartment to pull out cool shades — put them on using the “John Travolta” fingers in a “V” shape moving over the eyes
  • Muddy Road: Slide in the mud by sliding feet & moving hips

Musical Hula Hoops

Setup and Equipment

  • At least one hula hoop for each student in class.
  • Spread out hula hoops randomly on the floor.
  • Students stand in a hula hoop – Music starts and students begin a loco-motor movement.

Guidelines: Teacher Directed

  • Move outside of the hula hoops and when the music stops, step into the hoops that you are closest too.
  • When music stops, students stand in a hoop and balance on one foot.
  • Locomotor Skills: Skip, gallop, slide-step or grapevine, jogging, power walking

Cinchy Relay: 1/2/3/4/5

 Setup and Equipment

  • 6 Hula hoops and a large cone near the starting line
  • 6 Teams line up in relay style at one end of the gym.
  • Use hoops that correspond to their color teams if possible

Guidelines

  • The teacher rolls 6 hula hoops to the end of the gym at the same time
  • The first teams in each line runs to the other and and pick up one of the hoops and return it by putting it over a large orange cone that is set up in the middle near the starting line
  • Go to end of line after each turn.

Hoop Activity Links:

Hoop D’jour

Arctic Wind Hoops

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Halloween Tag Games

Date
Posted by

Pumpkin Tag

Setup and Equipment:

  • Stuffed Halloween character work well instead of yarn balls.
  • Gym mat in front of each wall for a 3 second base.
  • In our gym we randomly choose one team, which is 4-6 people to be taggers

Guidelines:

  • Start up the Halloween music.
  • Taggers can toss or tag by tossing or tagging shoulders or below.
  • If a child is tagged, the child must freeze and sit down on the floor in a pumpkin shape (arm hugging his/her knees to the chest with one fist making a stem on his/her head).
  • In order to become “unfrozen,” any player that is not a “witch” must see the frozen pumpkin, and give their stem a fist bump to free them.

Zombie Tag: 
Music: Halloween Favorites  with the Simpson’s Halloween Special as transition music.

Setup and Equipment:

  • Stuffed Halloween characters or yarn balls to use as taggers.
  • One mat is set up in front of each wall – these are safe bases

Guidelines:

  • One team of 4-6 students is randomly chosen as “its” – they may throw (shoulders or below) or just tag players.
  • If they are tagged, they are turned into a zombie, they have to find another zombie. Walk like a zombie until you find another zombie, then make a bridge with their hands, then a 3rd zombie will walk under the bridge and all three of them will have “free walk backs to a mat.
  • Play continues for about two minutes while the Halloween music is played.
  • When the music stops, choose a new team of taggers.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Football without footballs

Date
Posted by

Football Warmup: 

Equipment and Setup:

  • Equipment: Sheet of paper for each player. Crumple up a piece of paper into a ball to simulate a football.

Move around the gym

  • Throw and catch with same hand, then opposite hand
  • Tap up with the palm of your hand as many times as you can
  • Tap up with the back of your hand
  • Throw ball up and catch with both hands
  • Run and dodge  like a football player

Partner Warmup and Game

  • One partner is the center, the other is the quarterback
  • Hike the ball and the center goes out for a pass
  • After catching the ball from the quarterback – switch roles

Game Rules

  • Hike the ball – Quarterback throws the ball
  • When partner catches the ball, then try to tag them.
  • When the music stops, switch roles and continue
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Scramble (using a 4-square)

Date
Posted by

 

Setup and Equipment

  • No equipment required
  • A minimum of 5 people to start a game. If there is more than five people there will need to be a line to enter the game (just like in four square).
  • One person stands in the corner of each of the four squares.
  • One person stands in the middle of the four square where all of the lines intersect. This person is the caller of the game.

Guidelines:

  • The object of the game is to move to another square corner before another player reaches it.
  • One person stands in the corner of each of the four squares.
  • When everyone is standing in a corner, the caller says, “Ready, Set, Scramble”.
  • At this point all of the players, including the caller, quickly move to another corner. There will be one person that doesn’t make it to a corner. That person will become the new caller. If there are more than five players, they will go to the end of the line and wait for their turn.

 

Variations:

  • Running:  Run in place at the start of the game and keep running in place throughout.
  • Basketball: Dribble a basketball and keep your head up while dribbling.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Balloons

Date
Posted by
Comments0

Balloons

Move around the gym with music and try these patterns of tapping your balloon into the air with various body parts.

  • Foot – Hand – Finger – Elbow
  • Knee – Head – Shoulder – Thumb

Pattern A

  • Hand – Foot – Foot
  • Shoulder – Hand – Hand
  • Head – Thumb – Thumb – Knee – Finger -Finger

Pattern B

  • Hand – Foot – Foot
  • Shoulder – Hand – Hand
  • Head – Thumb – Thumb
  • Knee – Finger – Finger

Pattern C

  • Head – Shoulder – Hand
  • Hand – Knee – Foot
  • Thumb – Elbow – Foot
  • Finger – Knee – Foot

Patterns Right/Left

  • Hand – Hand
  • Foot – Foot
  • Fingers – Fingers
  • Knee – Knee

Balloon Finger Balance

  • Try balancing a balloon on the end of your finger.
  • Have a competition to see who can do it for the longest.
  • The balloon must not be held, only balanced, and it must not be tapped.
  • The finger must be in direct contact with the balloon at all times.

Balloon Juggle

  • Each team (6-8 per team) is given one balloon each with two additional ones.
  • They are to try and keep all of the balloons in the air.
  • Even more balloons may be added to increase the challenge.

Balloon Juggle Memory Game

  • Each team (6-8 per team) decide on the order by calling out the name of someone in their group (it’s best if it is not passed to the person next to them)
  • Balloons may be added to increase the challenge.

Balloon Partner Volleyball

  • Inflate to medium or medium-low pressure, so the balloon “floats” only a bit but not too much.
  • Stand facing a partner across a line on the floor of the gym.
  • One person serves the balloon by throwing the balloon in the air and hitting it with an open hand across the line. Try to use volleyball techniques, such as the  pass, set, kill, or serve to hit the balloon back and forth across the line
  • If someone allows the balloon to touch the floor on their side, the person on the other side of the net scores a point.
  • Play first person to 5 points, and then start again.
  • You are allowed to touch the balloon more than once on your side.

Balloon Tennis Skills  (Use foam paddles or badminton rackets)

  • Each person in class has a paddle or racket and a balloon.  Start at your individual gym home space.
  • Can you?
    • Starting with the balloon in front of you, can you tap the balloon with an underhand motion without moving your feet. How many taps.
    • Now put the balloon above your head and try tapping the balloon straight up.
    • Forehand, backhand,

Balloon Tennis Game

  • Stand facing a partner across a line on the floor of the gym.
  • One person serves the balloon by throwing the balloon in the air and tapping it with the racket. Try to use tennis techniques, such as the  forehand, backhand, and serve.
  • If someone allows the balloon to touch the floor on their side, the person on the other side of the net scores a point.
  • Play first person to 5 points, and then start again.
  • You are allowed to touch the balloon more than once on your side.

Balloon Over/Under Relay

  • The object of this game is to get your team to the opposite end of the gym by passing a balloon.
  • Teams line up in relay team formation.
  • The balloon is passed overhead to the person in back of them.
  • That person now passes the balloon through their legs to the next person who leans down and picks it up then passes it overhead to the person standing in back of them.
  • When the last pass  is made that person runs to the front of the line and passes the balloon overhead and the pattern continues.
  • The team will eventually move their whole team to the opposite end of the gym.

Balloon Tap Race

  • Equipment : Balloon for each team,
  • Six teams lined up in shuttle relay style. Half of each team is lined up at one end of the gym and the other half at the the starting line at the opposite end of the gym.
  • Each half of each team decides on an order so everyone touches the balloon when tapping the ballon in the air, so everyone has an equal turn.

Partner Balloon Tap Race

  • Equipment : Balloon for each team
  • Six teams lined up in shuttle relay style. First two people on each team line up facing each other with one balloon between them. You may want to require the slide step while doing this.
  • Tap the balloon back and forth between each other until your feet cross the center line reach the center line. Then return back to your line by passing.
  • Pass the balloon to the next two people in line and the relay continues until everyone has had at least one turn. You could also  set a limit of two to five minutes and see how many turns they can get.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Halloween Activities

Date
Posted by

Monster Mash – Music: Monster Mash

  • Eight Steps Forward, back – Frankenstein Style
  • Criss Cross Arms – Four counts – two with right arm top, then two with left
  • Hammer Fists – Eight Counts:  two with right fist on top, then two with left
  • Hitch Hike – Eight Counts – two with right thumb, then two with left, two with right, two with left.
  • Twist 8 counts: Start the first two counts while you twist back and forth, then go lower for each two counts until you finish the final 2 counts about knee-high.
  • Repeat the steps above for two stanzas. Then for the rest of the song twist high, low, one foot, then the other.

Pumpkin Tag

Setup and Equipment:

  • Stuffed Halloween character work well instead of yarn balls.
  • Gym mat in front of each wall for a 3 second base.
  • In our gym we randomly choose one team, which is 4-6 people to be taggers

Guidelines:

  • Start up the Halloween music.
  • Taggers can toss or tag by tossing or tagging shoulders or below.
  • If a child is tagged, the child must freeze and sit down on the floor in a pumpkin shape (arm hugging his/her knees to the chest with one fist making a stem on his/her head).
  • In order to become “unfrozen,” any player that is not a “witch” must see the frozen pumpkin, and give their stem a fist bump to free them.

Zombie Tag: 
Music: Halloween Favorites  with the Simpson’s Halloween Special as transition music.

Setup and Equipment:

  • Stuffed Halloween characters or yarn balls to use as taggers.
  • One mat is set up in front of each wall – these are safe bases

Guidelines:

  • One team of 4-6 students is randomly chosen as “its” – they may throw (shoulders or below) or just tag players.
  • If they are tagged, they are turned into a zombie, they have to find another zombie. Walk like a zombie until you find another zombie, then make a bridge with their hands, then a 3rd zombie will walk under the bridge and all three of them will have “free walk backs to a mat.
  • Play continues for about two minutes while the Halloween music is played.
  • When the music stops, choose a new team of taggers.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Bear Sighting Freeze Tag

Date
Posted by

Setup and Equipment:

  • Everybody It Version: No equipment needed

Guidelines:

  • Students are tagged with a two finger (peace sign) tag on someone’s knees.
  • If someone is tagged in this game; make themselves as big as they can by spreading legs and stretching out hands.These are  the protocols for a bear sighting in the woods near Spencer Butte. Remain standing in this frozen position until saved by a classmate.
  • To be saved from a frozen state, classmates will give them a high five to get back in the game.
  • Students have one way to avoid being tagged.  They are safe in in this game when they are pivoting on one foot. Students may do this for three turns, then they can move again.
  • Game changer: No bases. For 30 seconds there is no pivoting.
  • The game continues for about about five minutes or so.
  • Variation: Choose taggers who can use yarn balls as taggers.

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Scooters

Date
Posted by
Comments0

Scooters

  • Scooters are not skateboards, no standing on them. Start moving when you are on your scooter (Never run and jump on your scooter).
  • Get on your scooter and move in one of the six ways listed below.Set this up in your gym by putting half of your class spread out on the line at one end of the gym and the other half on the opposite end. Students will practice moving using all of the following methods. It’s important that students know that these are the only safe ways to move on your scooters. It also helps to have students make the effort to avoid collisions at the center of the gym.
  • The students follow the directions for each of the following movements by moving to the opposite end of the gym on the teacher’s signal, turning around and waiting for the next direction.
  1. Walk Forward: Pull forward with feet only – Hands on side handles
  2. Walk Backward: Push backward with feet only -hands on handles, turn head around slighltly to see behind you
  3. Arm Pull Forward: Lie on scooter and balance, use hands only to pull your body forward.
  4. Alligator: Lie on scooter – Use hands and feet
  5. Double Knee Coast: Both knees on scooters –
  6. Use hands to pull yourself forward
  7. One Knee On: Use the foot on the floor to propel yourself forward, while both hands hold onto the side handles.

Musical Scooters Warmup Activity

  • Students move in one of the modes from above.
  • When the music stops, spin yourself by using your hands only
  • Variation: Do a dead bug, by flipping on to your back, holding the scooter in the air and shaking your scooter and legs in the air.

Indy 500:

Setup and Equipment

  • Six color teams and six scooters
  • Set color team cones in a large track formation near the center of the gym to make a race track. Set the cones up so that there is one at each of the short end of the track and two on each of the long sides (straightaways) of the track.
  • Line up each team beside the cone of their team facing in a clockwise directions.

Guidelines for Indy 500

  • This will be a race around the outside of the cones. You’ll be lining up like it’s a 400 meter relay on the track.
  • Break into pairs by your team’s cone. The partner can only push when traveling around the curves. The driver has to  glide or make themselves move on the straightaways.
  • When you get back to your starting part, change places or let your other partners take a turn. Continue taking turns moving around the track.
  • How many laps can your team do in five, or maybe 10 minutes?

Glide Control

  • Two partners from each team line up at the black line in the front of the gym. One is standing, the other is sitting on the scooter.
  •  On the teacher’s signal, the person in back leans down low and pushes their scooter partner towards the climbing wall;
  • When they hit the wall or calmly stop before hitting the wall, pick up the scooter and run it back to the front of the line
  • The scooter is handed off to the next people in line and they now go to the end of the line.

Scooter Games:

Scooter Freeze Tag

Scooter Basketball

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Great Wall of China

Date
Posted by
Comments0

Great Wall of China

Setup and Equipment:

  • Pick three people to be the taggers (guards) on the Great Wall of China (center line in the gym).
  • The taggers may only slide back and forth along the line. Both feet must stay on the line.
  • Taggers tag with a gentle touch with their hands.
  • Music: Frantic Dance of Golden Serpent 

Rules:

  • All other players line up across the end line of the gym.
  • When the music begins (Music of China) players try to cross the great wall.
  • Stop the music when the players have made it to the opposite end line.
  • When players are tagged they join the Great Wall of China line.
  • If students lag in getting to the other end, the teacher may want to count down from five to one.
  • When music starts, players try to cross the “Great Wall” and return to the other side.
  • Continue until the “Great Wall” is impossible to cross.
  • Pick new guards and play another game.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email