Big Plans: FOUNDATION - HPE - Engage
Big Cuz and Little J are very excited that Sissy is coming to play with them over the weekend. They both see Sissy as their special friend. Big Cuz wants to play a ‘Sisters Only’ talent quest just for she and Sissy, and Little J plans an obstacle course for all to play. Eventually, Little J, Big Cuz and Sissy come together to test their skills on the obstacle course.
Engage - Practise personal and social skills to interact positively with others
Theme - GAMES
After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 13 ‘Big Plans’, engage students with the following activities to support their understanding about games requiring cooperation and team work.
As a class, discuss the students’ prior experiences with three-legged racing, and have students identify the objective of the three-legged race, the rules, and the equipment required. Have students also suggest any hazards and safety procedures to be addressed prior to, during and after the race, e.g. no pushing of other teams during the race, don’t tie the legs too tight, stay within your lane, etc.
Set up an area in the school grounds where it is safe to conduct a series of three-legged races and other participation games such as cooperation tag and loop the hoop. Make sure the ground is cleared of any rubbish, sharp stones, and/or animal refuse.
At the start and end of each session, conduct warm up and cool down stretches:
- Quick Warm-ups without equipment (PDF)
- Fitness for Kids - Warm-Up Routine (video)
- Warm Ups & Cool Downs for Children
Three-legged race
- Divide the class into small groups with even numbers of students. Ask the students in the groups to pair up. The groups can nominate a name to identify their team, such as a colour or animal name.
- Display a ‘Three-Legged Race’ competition results board, but also remind students that these games are about how well they cooperate with each other to complete a series of games. Invite students to suggest the essentials of good team work, e.g., cooperation, communication, coordination, caring about others, and doing your best, etc.
- Mark the area for the races to take place, and install a start and a finish line, a judge and a starter. Have groups/teams randomly select (drawing the team names from a hat) another team to oppose in each race. Draw up a round-robin schedule so that all teams have an opportunity to race all of the other teams. Explain to students that the winning team will score the most points. Also, emphasise that the benefit in playing these games is not about the winning but the team work and participating.
Cooperation tag
- Focus on: Moving cooperatively when they are ‘it’.
- Play a game of tag, but whenever the person who is ‘it’ touches someone, they hold hands and chase people together.
- Keep the game low contact by limiting the number of people who can be ‘it’ together – tell students the chain falls apart when it gets too long, e.g.at four people, call ‘Break-off!’ and nominate a new person to be ‘it’, and start again.
Variation:
Provide a ‘safe haven’ which is a hula hoop or circle drawn on the ground. Runners are safe in the circle UNLESS the people who are ‘it’ can surround the circle and join hands, in which case everyone is out and a new person is chosen to be ‘it’.
Focus on: Coordinated movement and problem solving
- Have students stand in a circle holding hands.
- Provide a hula hoop and ask two students to let go of their hands and re-join them through the hula hoop.
- The circle of students is now ‘threaded’ through the hula hoop.
- Students need to pass the hoop all the way around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands.
Variations:
- To make this easier: use a large hula hoop
- To make this harder: set two hula hoops moving in opposite directions around the circle – both need to make a complete circuit.
Suggested game resources:
- How to Run a Three-legged Race (video)The Mr Man Game
- Cooperative Games (PDF)
- Cooperative, Games and Activities Resource
- Cooperative Games for Younger Students