~ Physical Education Games ~
~ Parachute Questioning ~
KLA: PE Games
Stage: Early stage one, one, two and three
Outcome: The children will be able to develop their listening skills in this activity and learn to respond to questions that apply to them. This can be a fantastic getting to know you know, or a decision making game for children.
Resources: Large Parachute, or for the variation game, use the children's classroom seats.
Procedure: The children stand in a circle. In the centre is a parachute. Each child holds onto the edge of the parachute and practice lifting it into the air and slowly bringing it down to the ground. Once the children have warmed up with this exercise, ask the children questions, for example, "Do you have a brother?" or "Do you have two dogs?". The children then lift the parachute into the air and gently bring it down. If the question applies to a child, he/she runs under the parachute while it is up in the air, and finds a new place on the outside, before the parachute comes down on them. Children can not return to their old position.
The children can then start asking the questions and perform different actions under the parachute. If the question applies to them the children run under the parachute and give each other a high five and run back to their spot. The focus of questioning should also change, for example, "Who likes the movies?", "Who has a messy bedroom?" and "Who is wearing anything with the colour blue on it?".
Considerations/ Variations: This game can also be played with the children in seats. Take one seat out of the circle and the child who owns that seat stands in the middle of the circle and asks a question. If that question applies to any of the children, those children run, give one other child a high five and run for a seat. The child originally in the middle just runs for a seat without 'high fiving' anyone. At the end of each round, a child should be in the middle and the game continues.
~ Catch The Spare Seat! ~
KLA: PE Game
Stage: Stage Two and Three
Outcome: Children learn to react quickly to the situation as well as strive to formulate strategies to catch the spare seat.
Resources: The children's classroom seats.
Procedure: The children sit in their chairs which are in a circle. One child stands in the middle so a spare vacant seat is left in the circle. The aim of this game is for the child in the middle to catch the spare seat. The child in the seat next to the vacant seat quickly moves into the vacant seat. The child who is now next to the vacant seat, jumps from his/her seat to the vacant one. The movement can go in any direction. The person in the middle of the circle, has to try and sit down in the seat before the next child gets into the vacant seat. If the child in the middle gets the chair, the child left standing has to try and catch the spare seat. This continues and helps the children develop strategies for catching the spare seat. Eventually the children will realise that chasing the movement doesn't always work and that waiting for the movement to come to a certain part of the circle and targeting that chair often lets them catch that spare seat..
~ Foot Passing ~
KLA: Physical Education/ Fitness
Stage: Early Stage One, One, Two, Three
Outcomes: Children develop their stomach muscles using this activity, as well as their teamwork and cooperation skills. They are also encouraged to develop various strategies to help achieve success.
Resources: Ten beanbags and/or ten soft balls.
Procedure: The children sit on the ground with legs pointing into the circle. A beanbag or ball is given to one child. That child has to pass the object around the circle. This is done without touching the ball with their hands, arms or bodies but rather with their feet only. The child must also try and keep the beanbag off the ground while passing it around the circle. Add more beanbags to the circle. This activity exercises the stomach muscles as they have to lift their legs in the air and twist to pass the object. Excellent indoors activity.
~ Blind Man, Old Horse ~
KLA: Physical Education Game
Stage: Early Stage one, Stage One, Two and Three
Outcome: Children work as a team and aspects such as listening and communication are emphasised. This is also a fitness game, better conducted indoors.
Resources: Two strips of material, one for a blind fold and the other to tie one child's legs together.
Procedure: Children form a circle holding hands, and two children stand in the middle of the circle. One child is the blind man, and is blind-folded. The other child is the old horse. This child's legs are bound together with a soft rope or cloth. The aim of this game is for the blind man to catch his old horse, as the horse jumps around the circle avoiding the blind man. During the game, the blind man calls out, "Horsey, horsey, where are you?". The horse MUST reply to this call with a "Neigh" sound. This allows the old man to use the sense of hearing to catch the horse, rather than sight. The children that form the circle are the fence and if the old man strays from his/her course, the fence is able to guide him/her back towards the horse. When the old man catchs the horse, the children swap places with others in the fence and the game continues.
Variations: This game can be done with more than one horse also.
~ Pass The Hoop(s) ~
KLA: Physical Education
Stages: Early Stage One, One, Two and Three
Outcome: The children will develop aspects like teamwork and cooperation in a fun and active way. Also strategy development.
Resources: Five hoops.
Procedures: The children stand in a circle holding hands. A hoop is placed on the joined hands of two children in the circle. The aim of the game is for the children to pass the hoop around the circle without letting go of the next child's hands. To do this, the children have to slide through the hoop, which then moves down that child's arm to the next child. This also helps the children develop strategies such as the best way to get through the hoop. To make this game a little more challenging, put two, three, four or even five hoops in different places of the circle. However, let the children pass one hoop one way and another hoop the other way. Eventually, the hoops will both reach one child, who will have to slide through one hoop, then through the other one and continue passing it around the circle.
~ Tunnel Ball ~
KLA: Physical Education/ Fitness
Stage: Early Stage One, Stage One, Two and Three
Outcome: The children will cooperate as a team to achieve the aim of this game.
Resources: One ball for each team, depending on the number of teams you wish to use.
Procedure: The children group into teams of five and each team is given a ball. One child in each group is the leader and the other members of the team lay down on the floor, on their stomachs, in a straight line. The leader stands at the top of the line and rolls the ball towards the line of children. The children then have to lift their bodies off the ground and let the ball move underneath them, so that they create a tunnel for the ball to travel. When it reaches the end of the tunnel, the last child collects the ball and runs to the top of the line. The first leader joins the other children on the ground and all four on the ground, shuffle down. The leader then rolls the ball and the four make the tunnel. The last child catches the ball and runs to the top of the line and this continues until all children have had a turn at being the leader.
Variations: The children can lay on their stomach, perpendicular to the direction of the balls travel, or they can lay on their backs and lift off the ground using their hands and feet and raising their backsides into the air (crab position).
