I would like to share two activities that I hope are new for elementary classroom teachers and/or physical education specialists. If not, perhaps they‚ll add a new twist to an activity or game you already have in your physical education curriculum.

Objective: To match the component part cards with the cue word cards

Equipment: Make one set of cue word cards and one set of component description cards for each group in the class. Using separate colors for the cure words and the component parts is essential.

Example:

Skill to be learned: Leap

Cue words: (choose from any set below):

• go push, fly, land (cue set 1
• run, fly, run again (cue set 2)
• take off on one foot, get airborne, land on the other foot (cue set 3)

Components: 

• Run (take several running steps before starting to leap).
• Takeoff (push off the ground with one foot).
• Flight (both feet are temporarily off the ground in a stride position and the arm opposite the lead foot reaches forward).
• Landing (land on the opposite foot from the takeoff foot; knee is bent to absorb force).
• Run (run a few steps after landing).

Activity:

1. Arrange each group of four to five students.

2. On a signal, group members take turns running to the opposite end of the play area to pick up one cue word at a time.

3. Once the group has picked up the cue words, they must place them in the proper order.

4. Then the group members take turns running to the opposite end of the play area to pick up one of the cards with the component parts written on them.

5. The activity is completed when the group members have correctly matched the component parts with the cue words.

Extensions:

1.  Use pictures for the defined component parts.

2.  Have neighboring groups check each other‚s answers.

3.  Have students pick up a cue word card and its matching component description card, run back to their groups, and then put the two cards in the proper sequence.

Objective: To demonstrate the proper execution of the underhand throw while throwing a beanbag into a hula hoop.

Equipment: Beanbags and hula hoops

Activity:

1. Divide the class into groups of four.

2. Give each group four beanbags (one per person) and one hula hoop.

3. Directions for making the "stew:"

• Have the students make a circle around the pot (a hula hoop lying on the floor) approximately one giant step away from the pot.
• All stew meat/vegetables (beanbags) must get into the pot for the stew to be cooked.
• Using correct form, everyone in the group must throw her/his stew meat or vegetable into the pot. If all of the beanbags make it into the pot, the stew is cooked. If any beanbags miss the target, all of the beanbags are retrieved and the group tries again.
• After each pot of stew is cooked, the students take one step backward from the pot. Students continue to step back after each pot of stew is cooked.

Extensions:

1. The entire class stands around a large circle. This is the giant stew pot. All of the stew meat/vegetables must get into the pot for the stew to be cooked. The students step back one step after each pot of stew is cooked.

2.  Since many beanbags come in colors, assign different colors to the different food groups (green for vegetables, red for meats, yellow for pasta...). Then call out specific foods. The students have to decide what food group it is in and then throw the beanbag. For example, when you call out carrots (a vegetable), the students with green beanbags throw their "carrots" into the stew pot.

Have a great time! These two activities were taken directly from the book, Teaching the Nuts and Bolts of Physical Education: Building Basic Movement Skills by A. Vonnie Colvin, Nancy J. Egner Markos, and Pamela J. Walker (2000).

If you would like more information on these, or any other of Belinda's ideas, you can contact her here. 'n Stuff