BASKET BUDDIES Points Challenge

Over the last several years, I’ve become obsessed with using laundry baskets in my program. They are useful storage for equipment and targets or goals for games. Click LAUNDRY BASKET GAMES to access my YouTube channel playlist.

Basket Buddies Points Challenge is a game we play giving students the opportunity to develop their underhand and overhand throwing skills based on the distance they need to throw. It’s also fun to watch strategies develop as the game progresses.

Setup:

• Divide the class into groups of three. Depending on space and the number of baskets, you can also divide into partners of groups of four.

• Place one basket with a beanbag or fleece ball inside for each group along the same sideline.

• In front of each basket place 5 poly spots in a line about 5-10 feet apart depending on the grade. As the video shows, our gym has a grid with 5 squares in front of each basket, so poly spots are unnecessary.

• Each spot has a point value. The closest spot is worth 1 point, the second is worth 2 points, etc.

How to play:

• To begin, the teams discuss strategy for approximately 1-2 minutes.

• When the game begins, one player, toting the basket, runs out to one of the spots, ready to catch a ball thrown by the second player.

• If the ball is caught, the team earns the points associated with the spot. The player with the basket returns to the sideline and hands the basket to the thrower and the ball to the third person.

• The game continues for about 3 minutes, with players consistently rotating jobs.

• When time expires I ask about their strategies. “Did your strategy work?” “Did you have to adapt your strategy based on what you learned about your team?”

• Play a second round encouraging them to beat their first score using the same strategy (if it worked) or a different strategy.

This game is fun to watch for multiple reasons. It allows me to assess each student’s throwing abilities in a game setting. Students benefit from repetition. They have countless opportunities to throw and track the ball into the basket. I’ll also observe students’ awareness of when to use an underhand throw and when to use an overhand throw. There’s also basic addition that is reinforced as students add their scores throughout the game. Finally, as seen in the video, the game is action-packed and tons of fun!

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MAYHEM

A throwing and catching game with tons of repetitions

Throughout our early throwing and catching unit, we incorporate a number of individual and partner drills and skills with a focus on proper rolling, underhand and overhand throwing, and catching fundamentals. Later we’ll progress to bigger, and more dynamic group games. MAYHEM is game that works for First Grade – Sixth Grade students. It’s a face paced, exciting game incorporating throwing and catching various pieces of equipment including yarn balls, discs, small footballs, large footballs, foam balls, foam cylinders, gator skin balls, and anything else in the PE closet that is safe to use.

Video of MAYHEM  below

Set up:

• Enter your PE closet and choose any equipment that is safe to throw and catch. The more equipment and the bigger variety the better.

• For older students assign a point value to each piece of equipment depending on the degree of difficulty to throw and catch. Post the point value for students to see as they play. For First and Second Grades I don’t use the point system. Instead, I time the class to see how long it takes them to clear all the equipment, then play a second round to see if they can beat their record.

• Find a receptacle to hold all the equipment. We divide it all into three large plastic pools.

• Place large hoops around the perimeter of the pool. This is where students store any piece of equipment they successfully catch. The distance from the pool depends on the grade and/or skill level.

How to play:

• Divide students into groups of three.

• Groups report to a hoop.

• The first person runs to the center and chooses an item. From there, that student underhand or overhand throws it to the second person who must catch the item with one foot in the hoop.

• If caught the item is placed in the hoop.The person who caught the item then runs to the center and the third person in the group now awaits the throw. If the item dropped, it is brought back to the pool by the person who didn’t catch it, and he/she throws it to the third person.

• Continue until the center is cleared of all equipment.

• Time to add up the scores.Third-Sixth Grade students sit around the hoop and work together to add up their point total.

• Return the equipment to the center to play a second round. Groups attempt to beat their previous score.

Our students enjoy a little MAYHEM during PE class. I hope your do as well!

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The ROLLERAMA HUSTLE

A rolling and throwing game for all ages

Proper rolling and throwing are critical foundational skills for our first-grade students. Through various individual and partner throwing activities, students work on stepping toward the target with their opposite foot as they swing their arm back then follow through as they release the ball or bean bag. Incorporating opportunities to enhance accuracy, power, and finesse, students roll and throw to a partner or target with varying degrees of difficulty.

Video below

Similarly, I provide equal opportunities for First-Grade students to track a ball or bean bag as they work on catching. Using scarves, beach balls, bean bags, and fleece balls students begin in personal space throwing the object into the air, then catching it. Soon they are ready to graduate and catch an object thrown by a partner using an underhand throw.

The ROLLERAMA HUSTLE  is the perfect game combining rolling, underhand throwing, catching, and HUSTLE! Set up a pin on a poly spot. Partners stand 10-15 feet away from the pin. Partner 1 rolls the ball, attempting to know it over. That same partner hustles after the ball and sets up the pin if knocked over, then races to a throwing line. This is where partner 1 underhand throws the ball to partner 2. Partner 2 repeats the process. I play this game with 1st-5th grades, while age-appropriately changing the distances and the skills. For my older students, I allow them to choose the rolling and throwing distance based on their appetite for challenge and skill level. I also allow them to use an overhand throw.

Scoring:

1 point for knocking over the pin

2 points for each successful catch

Of course, you can change the scoring as you feel necessary. Check out the game in action below.

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DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? TEAMWORK – WHY THIS PICTURE BECAME AN ESSENTIAL TOOL IN MY PROGRAM

Photo credit: Getty Images

I regularly use this image to set the tone for our team-building unit with First-Grade classes. I project the image on a screen as we discuss what teamwork looks and sounds like. It remains on the screen while I present the students with several small group challenges offering opportunities to demonstrate and enhance their abilities to make compromises, support each other, and resolve conflicts. The image not only sets the tone but also serves as a tool for cognitive perspective taking or the ability to recognize different points of view and thoughts. 

Observing and facilitating team-building lessons can be a challenge for me as an educator since students at all levels are grasping for the necessary tools to share ideas and navigate cooperative settings. More often than not, children want to be heard, so toward the end of every class we sit in a circle to process the day’s lesson, and I ask them, “What worked well? What were some obstacles? Did anyone hear “teamwork”? What did teamwork look like with your group? Did anyone feel frustrated?” 

As beneficial as each hands-on activity is for a small group, the above image proves time and time again to be an equally powerful learning tool when processing teamwork. 

I ask the class to look at the picture and give them at least one minute of thinking time before asking them for their initial thoughts. What ensues is a robust, thoughtful discussion on what they observe in the picture. 

This is where it takes their minds:

“I see three people helping each other so they don’t fall.”

“I see a boy who needs help because he can’t make it over the cliff.”

“The man reaching for the boy is afraid he is going to fall so the other two are helping him balance.”

“They are working together as a team to help each other.”

Each class discussion is sprinkled with comments similar to the ones above.  I’m encouraged that they notice the need for help, the physical support, and how each team member plays an important role. When prompted, they also connect the picture to the challenges presented during class.

Related post: Motivate Your Class with a Meaningful Quote and Image

As the discussion continues, the person in the back has always sparked more conversation and perspective-taking: 

One student asked: “Why is the person in the back just watching?” Other students chimed in, “Yes! Why isn’t he helping? The team would be better if everybody helped.” 

These are thoughtful, important observations, especially since I preach that everybody on a team has an important role. Some are big, some are small but each job relates to the team’s success.

Interestingly, some students are more optimistic and give the last man the benefit of the doubt. Instead of disinterest or seeing the man as helpless, they comment on his role as an encourager or emotional and physical support.

“I think he is cheering them on.”

“Maybe the last person came up with the plan.”

“He is ready to grab the last man’s hand if needed.”

“When the other three pull him up, the last man will be there to catch him.”

It’s these conversations that make this picture so powerful. Students can share their observations and discuss their perspectives. Equally as important they can see themselves in that image. They picture themselves the leaders, encouragers, or planners. These connections are made not only to our day’s lesson but also to how they maneuver through their day, whether at school, in a club, on the playground, or within their family. 

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7 Team Building Games for All Levels

7 Games and 7 Videos

Team building with students improves productivity, boosts motivation, increases collaboration, encourages creativity, and enriches communication.

As in most physical education programs, it has been a tradition for my team to kick off the school year with two weeks of team building and cooperative activities. Not only is it the perfect way to get to know students, but it also encourages them to communicate (talk to each other – a dying art!) and problem-solve in small, medium, and large-sized groups. Through these cooperative activities, we can determine which students work well in group settings and those who may have difficulties within this dynamic.

Teamwork should be discussed and encouraged consistently throughout the year. After all, practice improves performance, right? For this reason, I once again took a deep dive into partner and small group cooperative challenges with my 1st-grade classes this week.

Here are 7 of our simple and fun teamwork challenges.

Soccer Scrum

How many times can your group of five move the ball back and forth across the gym in three minutes?

Creative Noodle Movements

How many exercises and movements can you and your partner create using two noodles?

Pass, Pivot, Catch Cooperative Relay

Time to Make the Donuts

Groups of 4 work to move the donut from one cone to the other using noodles. If the donut falls, the students complete 5 jumping jacks while holding the ends of each noodle.

Carry On!

How many ways can you and your partner carry the ball across the floor without using your hands? Remember, the ball must be touching both of you at all times.

Can You Stand It?

How many spots can you stand the cylinder on using only your feet? Don’t forget! Each partner must be touching the cylinder.

Scarf Tossing

How many tosses does it take you and your partner to cross the gym and back?

Whether it’s building a hula hut in P.E., passing a ball on a field, or completing a team project in class, team building skills are indispensable tools for children to possess. Like any lesson, we can teach our students the benefits of sharing ideas, communicating thoughts, and working as a group, but ultimately it is the children that will connect and use those skills in the real world.

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/justybubpe.

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