Divide class into groups of 4 (groups of 3 or 5 also work).  Each group makes a playing field by using poly-spots to mark corners of a 10×10 box (I teach them to take big steps and count off 10 paces).  Each group has one person that is defense and the other 3 are offense.  Offense tries to keep the frisbee from the defense.  Basic rules are:

1. person with the frisbee may not take steps

2. must pass the frisbee within 3 seconds

3.  players must stay 3 feet from each other

4.  if the frisbee is thrown out-of-bounds, the thrower becomes the defense

5.  if a catch is missed or dropped, the catcher becomes the defense

6.  if the defense intercepts the pass, he or she chooses who becomes the next defensive player

I add the option that if I blow the whistle, a new person becomes the defensive player.  With my younger classes, I had to help some groups understand the idea of the defense trying to get in the middle of the offensive players to intercept; and also showing the offensive players how to move around when they don’t have the frisbee in hand.  Once they get the hang of it, they have a great time.  My older classes were playing within seconds and kept an active game going.  It was a fun spring-time activity.

Set-up:

Make a big rectangle using cones or poly spots.  This is the ship.

Throw 8-10 hula hoops around the ship — about 4 paces away.

Place a bin of soft yarn or foam balls on the “ship”.

I had all the students sit in the cone box for a story.  I told them they were on a ship, but in a minute a big storm was going to hit and most of them would be knocked off.  They would need to swim quickly and climb on an iceberg (hula hoop) because the water around them was full of hungry sharks.  I demonstrated that those sailors still on the ship would need to save their friends by throwing them a life preserver (yarn ball).  If the ball is caught you can reel your friend in with the imaginary rope tied to the life preserver.  If the ball is not caught, it must remain in the water.  I note that the water also has some friendly and brave dolphins who will retrieve the lost life preservers and bring them back to the ship.

I then send all the students to stand in a hoop (several can stand in the same one).  I then designate 3-4 children to stay on the ship and be rescue sailors and 3-4 to be dolphins.  The sailors then begin tossing balls to their friends in the hoops.  Once these students are pulled on board they can help with the rescuing.  The dolphins run around and retrieve lost balls so the ship doesn’t run out.  You can add a timer, if wanted, and see if all our friends can be rescued in one minute before their ice berg melts.

The children love the imagination of the game as well as getting lots of throwing and catching practice.  A round just takes about a minute, then I scattered them in hoops again and start over.  They loved it!

I labeled old tennis balls with numbers 1-8 (or how ever many groups you want to have).  Then labeled five or six extra balls with random symbols (triangle, smiley face, star, etc).  I divide the class into groups and line them up behind cones.  Each group draws a numbered tennis ball and that becomes their group number.  I then throw all the tennis balls out into the gym.  The first person in each line runs forward and tries to find their numbered ball.  When they do they bring it to me and I give them a point value.  The first person to bring me a ball gets 8 points, the second 7 points, and on down.  After they have found their ball they can go and grab symbol balls one at a time.  Each of these are worth 5 points.  When all the balls have been picked up, I gather them, the team adds up their points and the next person moves forward in line.  I throw the balls out and repeat.  We play until each group member has had a turn to chase.  The groups have to add on to their points each time so they use some math skills.

The main rule you have to emphasize is that they can only have one ball in their hands at a time.  Depending on the level of competitiveness and the students’ ages you can let them toss or kick unwanted balls around the room making it harder for other groups to find their ball.

The kids really get running.  It is mainly luck to find their ball so anyone can win the game.  My class had a lot of fun playing it and all had their heart rates up.  I love the math element with the points.

“It” has a foam frisbee.  Have one “it” per every 5-7 players.  ”IT” backhand threw the frisbee to try and hit another player.  If a player was hit, they became “it”.  The game was very simple and the class did a lot of running.  ”It” player changed frequently so no one got too tired.  It was a fun ending game for a frisbee day.  I have also tried the game with 1st and 2nd grades with good success.

Archery became a favorite at our school!  The students loved learning the sport during PE class and all were anxious to try and learn.  We had try-outs for an after school team and over 100 students tried out (about 1/3 of the eligible students).  40 students made the final team and they practiced for 8 weeks before attending the state tournament.  Our team took first in the state!  It was a rewarding and a unique experience for so many of the students.  I found that students succeeded in archery that struggle with every other sport.  It turned things around for some of my more negative students.

The challenge of teaching archery during the school day was the size of our gym versus class size.  I have about 36 students at a time and only 10 could shoot at once.  I organized the classes into 4 groups.  One group would be shooting at targets, one worked on archery-related fitness skills, one practiced the motions with string bows, and the last group was allowed to watch the shooters.

Our school was able to initiate this program due to a grant offered by the Utah Division of Natural Resources.    The Utah DNR provided us with the equipment needed and also the training for me to become a certified instructor.  Grants are available in many states.

To learn more about the NASP program, visit their webpage here.

Children partner up and sit cross-legged facing each other.  Place a bean bag between them.  I give 3 cues:

“middle”   bean bag is placed in the middle

“ready”   children place both hands behind their back

“go”   grab for bean bag and see who gets it first

Return bag to middle and repeat.  Older kids can play in push-up position to give a challenge.  If you don’t have bean bags, any handy object will do.  This is a good wake-up games for classrooms when students need a break!

Day 1:

I held the cards up and explained the move.  We all did the tricks together.  Then I put on some music and had them move like the animal I called out (see previous post).  When the music stopped, they would freeze in the position on the card I was holding up.  They got bored of it pretty quick and I felt like they weren’t trying very hard on the balancing poses.  So, the next day I mixed things up a bit with much better results (different kids, same age group)

Day 2:

I taped the cards to cones and divided the class into 12 small groups (about 3 kids each group).  They then rotated around to each cone and tried the pictured balance.  I would walk quickly around the circle and check each group, making suggestions and challenges as needed.  They loved it!  This day they were really engaged in holding the poses and challenging themselves.  I was able to give help when needed and everyone stayed busy.  With about 5 minutes left at the end of class, I gave them each a beanbag and challenged them to try balancing the bag on their head while walking or trying some of the poses we had just learned.  It was great to seem them remember the poses and try them again with the added challenge of keeping a bean bag in place.

I did the lesson this way the rest of the week and it went great every time.  Here is a list of the poses we tried:

Kimbo Stand:  arms crossed at chest, cross one leg over the other and touch toe to the ground

Front Scale:  lean forward, arms out to the sides, raise one leg straight behind

Backward Balance:  lean back, arms out to sides, raise one leg straight in front

Sideways Balance:  lean to one side, arms out, lift one leg to the side

Knee Raise:  bend knee, raise and hold

Stork:  place foot on opposite thigh, arms straight out to side

Head Touch:  kneel on ground, touch forehead to ground and raise arms above back

Knee Balance:  kneel on both knees, arms out, lift toes off the ground

One-Knee Balance:  same as above on one knee

Shoulder Press:  shoulders and feet on ground, raise hips up

Knee Stand:  on hands and knees, raise one leg straight behind and one arm straight in front

Challenge:  balance on one body part (2 body parts,etc)

Here are some of the animals we tried:
Kangaroo: long, big jumps
Puppy walk: on hands and feet, keep head up to see where you are going
Cat walk: like puppy, but try and arch back
Bear walk: heavy and slow on hands and feet
Frog jump: use hands to push off the floor, try and go high
Seal walk: bellies and legs on the floor, pull body with hands (flippers)
Elephant walk: stomp feet and use arms to make a trunk, slow and heavy
Donkey kick: kick back feet in the air (make sure and stay in your own space)
Inchworm: on hands and feet — walk feet to hands, then walk hands out, repeat
Crab walk: belly up using hands and feet

I let them make animal noises while they were moving. When the music stopped they had to completely freeze (voices too). It was perfect for this cold winter week when they haven’t even been able to go outside for recess!