Category Archives: 3. Grade 3

Scramble (using a 4-square)

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Setup and Equipment

  • No equipment required
  • A minimum of 5 people to start a game. If there is more than five people there will need to be a line to enter the game (just like in four square).
  • One person stands in the corner of each of the four squares.
  • One person stands in the middle of the four square where all of the lines intersect. This person is the caller of the game.

Guidelines:

  • The object of the game is to move to another square corner before another player reaches it.
  • One person stands in the corner of each of the four squares.
  • When everyone is standing in a corner, the caller says, “Ready, Set, Scramble”.
  • At this point all of the players, including the caller, quickly move to another corner. There will be one person that doesn’t make it to a corner. That person will become the new caller. If there are more than five players, they will go to the end of the line and wait for their turn.

 

Variations:

  • Running:  Run in place at the start of the game and keep running in place throughout.
  • Basketball: Dribble a basketball and keep your head up while dribbling.
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Balloons

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Balloons

Move around the gym with music and try these patterns of tapping your balloon into the air with various body parts.

  • Foot – Hand – Finger – Elbow
  • Knee – Head – Shoulder – Thumb

Pattern A

  • Hand – Foot – Foot
  • Shoulder – Hand – Hand
  • Head – Thumb – Thumb – Knee – Finger -Finger

Pattern B

  • Hand – Foot – Foot
  • Shoulder – Hand – Hand
  • Head – Thumb – Thumb
  • Knee – Finger – Finger

Pattern C

  • Head – Shoulder – Hand
  • Hand – Knee – Foot
  • Thumb – Elbow – Foot
  • Finger – Knee – Foot

Patterns Right/Left

  • Hand – Hand
  • Foot – Foot
  • Fingers – Fingers
  • Knee – Knee

Balloon Finger Balance

  • Try balancing a balloon on the end of your finger.
  • Have a competition to see who can do it for the longest.
  • The balloon must not be held, only balanced, and it must not be tapped.
  • The finger must be in direct contact with the balloon at all times.

Balloon Juggle

  • Each team (6-8 per team) is given one balloon each with two additional ones.
  • They are to try and keep all of the balloons in the air.
  • Even more balloons may be added to increase the challenge.

Balloon Juggle Memory Game

  • Each team (6-8 per team) decide on the order by calling out the name of someone in their group (it’s best if it is not passed to the person next to them)
  • Balloons may be added to increase the challenge.

Balloon Partner Volleyball

  • Inflate to medium or medium-low pressure, so the balloon “floats” only a bit but not too much.
  • Stand facing a partner across a line on the floor of the gym.
  • One person serves the balloon by throwing the balloon in the air and hitting it with an open hand across the line. Try to use volleyball techniques, such as the  pass, set, kill, or serve to hit the balloon back and forth across the line
  • If someone allows the balloon to touch the floor on their side, the person on the other side of the net scores a point.
  • Play first person to 5 points, and then start again.
  • You are allowed to touch the balloon more than once on your side.

Balloon Tennis Skills  (Use foam paddles or badminton rackets)

  • Each person in class has a paddle or racket and a balloon.  Start at your individual gym home space.
  • Can you?
    • Starting with the balloon in front of you, can you tap the balloon with an underhand motion without moving your feet. How many taps.
    • Now put the balloon above your head and try tapping the balloon straight up.
    • Forehand, backhand,

Balloon Tennis Game

  • Stand facing a partner across a line on the floor of the gym.
  • One person serves the balloon by throwing the balloon in the air and tapping it with the racket. Try to use tennis techniques, such as the  forehand, backhand, and serve.
  • If someone allows the balloon to touch the floor on their side, the person on the other side of the net scores a point.
  • Play first person to 5 points, and then start again.
  • You are allowed to touch the balloon more than once on your side.

Balloon Over/Under Relay

  • The object of this game is to get your team to the opposite end of the gym by passing a balloon.
  • Teams line up in relay team formation.
  • The balloon is passed overhead to the person in back of them.
  • That person now passes the balloon through their legs to the next person who leans down and picks it up then passes it overhead to the person standing in back of them.
  • When the last pass  is made that person runs to the front of the line and passes the balloon overhead and the pattern continues.
  • The team will eventually move their whole team to the opposite end of the gym.

Balloon Tap Race

  • Equipment : Balloon for each team,
  • Six teams lined up in shuttle relay style. Half of each team is lined up at one end of the gym and the other half at the the starting line at the opposite end of the gym.
  • Each half of each team decides on an order so everyone touches the balloon when tapping the ballon in the air, so everyone has an equal turn.

Partner Balloon Tap Race

  • Equipment : Balloon for each team
  • Six teams lined up in shuttle relay style. First two people on each team line up facing each other with one balloon between them. You may want to require the slide step while doing this.
  • Tap the balloon back and forth between each other until your feet cross the center line reach the center line. Then return back to your line by passing.
  • Pass the balloon to the next two people in line and the relay continues until everyone has had at least one turn. You could also  set a limit of two to five minutes and see how many turns they can get.
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Warmup: Bank/Lake

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Bank/Lake

Setup and Equipment

  • Use the lines in the gym to designate a large area in the gym that is the lake.
  • You may want to add some ropes to corners of squares to make the lake wider.

Guidelines: 

  • Students will be moving around the bank of the lake. They’ll need to follow the teacher’s directions.
  • When the teacher says, “lake” jump with 2 feet into the lake.
  • When the teacher says, “bank” jump with both feet, but land on one foot and balance.
  • Use locomotor skills: walk, power walk, jog, skip, grapevine, funny walk, backwards walk
  • Occasionally say lake, when you’re in the lake and bank when you’re already on the bank.

This is a fun warmup, so just jump to the right place whenever you were fooled with the direction.

 

 

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Equality (Straddle) Ball

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Equality (Straddle) Ball Setup:

  • One soft small foam ball  or playground ball for a group of five to eight students.
  • The group sets up in a circle with legs wide apart and feet touching.
  • The space between each player’s feet is a goal that they defend by using their hands only.
  • Bend your knees and get low with the palms of your hands facing the middle of the circle and your fingers pointing down.
  • Ready, Begin…

The game starts when one player sets the ball in front of them and taps it with their hand in an attempt to get the ball through another player’s legs.

  • The ball may only be tapped with their hands. No stopping the ball and rolling it.
  • You may not reach over in front of another player’s “goal”.
  • If a ball travels outside of the circle, the player that touched it last should retrieve it and start a new game.

Variation One: Use two or even three balls if it is a larger group.

 Variation Two (Doggy Style): Turn around so you are facing out. Position your feet, so you have to hit the ball through your legs backwards.

 

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Halloween Activities

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Monster Mash – Music: Monster Mash

  • Eight Steps Forward, back – Frankenstein Style
  • Criss Cross Arms – Four counts – two with right arm top, then two with left
  • Hammer Fists – Eight Counts:  two with right fist on top, then two with left
  • Hitch Hike – Eight Counts – two with right thumb, then two with left, two with right, two with left.
  • Twist 8 counts: Start the first two counts while you twist back and forth, then go lower for each two counts until you finish the final 2 counts about knee-high.
  • Repeat the steps above for two stanzas. Then for the rest of the song twist high, low, one foot, then the other.

Pumpkin Tag

Setup and Equipment:

  • Stuffed Halloween character work well instead of yarn balls.
  • Gym mat in front of each wall for a 3 second base.
  • In our gym we randomly choose one team, which is 4-6 people to be taggers

Guidelines:

  • Start up the Halloween music.
  • Taggers can toss or tag by tossing or tagging shoulders or below.
  • If a child is tagged, the child must freeze and sit down on the floor in a pumpkin shape (arm hugging his/her knees to the chest with one fist making a stem on his/her head).
  • In order to become “unfrozen,” any player that is not a “witch” must see the frozen pumpkin, and give their stem a fist bump to free them.

Zombie Tag: 
Music: Halloween Favorites  with the Simpson’s Halloween Special as transition music.

Setup and Equipment:

  • Stuffed Halloween characters or yarn balls to use as taggers.
  • One mat is set up in front of each wall – these are safe bases

Guidelines:

  • One team of 4-6 students is randomly chosen as “its” – they may throw (shoulders or below) or just tag players.
  • If they are tagged, they are turned into a zombie, they have to find another zombie. Walk like a zombie until you find another zombie, then make a bridge with their hands, then a 3rd zombie will walk under the bridge and all three of them will have “free walk backs to a mat.
  • Play continues for about two minutes while the Halloween music is played.
  • When the music stops, choose a new team of taggers.
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Hands Down Four Square

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Hands Down Four Square

  • Fingers always point down. No holding ball during play.
  • 4 square serves to 1 square. A good serve is bounced on the blacktop, then hit to the one square. If you win three times in square 4, go to the end on the line.
  • All line balls are good, so always play the ball. When a player is out, they must go to the end of the line and players move up to fill vacated square.
  • You are out when:
  • You hit the ball out of bounds
  • The ball hits twice in your square.
  • You touch the ball when it’s in the air.
  • Who’s out? The “judge” 1st person in line decides disputed calls.  
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Bear Sighting Freeze Tag

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Setup and Equipment:

  • Everybody It Version: No equipment needed

Guidelines:

  • Students are tagged with a two finger (peace sign) tag on someone’s knees.
  • If someone is tagged in this game; make themselves as big as they can by spreading legs and stretching out hands.These are  the protocols for a bear sighting in the woods near Spencer Butte. Remain standing in this frozen position until saved by a classmate.
  • To be saved from a frozen state, classmates will give them a high five to get back in the game.
  • Students have one way to avoid being tagged.  They are safe in in this game when they are pivoting on one foot. Students may do this for three turns, then they can move again.
  • Game changer: No bases. For 30 seconds there is no pivoting.
  • The game continues for about about five minutes or so.
  • Variation: Choose taggers who can use yarn balls as taggers.

 

 

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Hoop Passing for Small Groups

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Equipment and Setup:

  • Student arranged in groups of five to eight.
  • Hula Hoops: Two per group
  • Group holds hands in a circle facing each other

Guidelines:

  • Each group hangs one of the hula hoops on a pair of linked hands in the group. The other hoop is set on the floor outside of the circle.
  • The object of this is activity is to see how quickly and gracefully the hoop can be moved around the circle back to the starting point without letting go of your hands. Bending, twisting and talking to each other will be a big help.
  •  The most popular way to pass the hoop is by stepping into and ducking through the hoop, while lifting the hoop up and down and using gravity to slide the hoop.
  • Once a group can pass one hoop around the circle add a second hoop and continue.
  • How many times can you get the two hoops passed around your circle in two minutes or the time of one song.

Other Ideas:

Reverse: Play music to start passing the hoop. When you hear the sound of a truck backing up change the direction that you are passing.

Magic Passing

  • Start two hoops facing each other on opposite sides of the circle. Use “magic” or change the shape of your hoop to get them to pass through each other until they reach the starting point.

Caterpillar Line Race

Equipment and Setup:

  • Six groups of students line up at one end of the gym
  • Hula Hoops: Two per group
  • Group holds hands in a line standing next to each other.
  • Two hoops are on the floor next to the end line of the last person in line.

Guidelines:

  • The object of this activity is to get your group to the opposite end of the gym.
  • The hoops are passed backwards towards the starting line. When the hoop gets over the last person in line, they run to the front of the line toward the end line at the destination.
  • Continue passing the hoops backward and moving the line forward until you reach the destination.

 

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Hoop Driving

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Equipment and Setup:

  • One hula hoop for each student in the class.
  • Set up cones near each corner of the gym with enough room for the students to easily pass around the outside of the cone.
  • Music for Driving

Guidelines:

Today students will be simulating driving a car by holding their hula hoop in the air as if it were a giant steering wheel.

  • Spread students out around the giant circle which is designated with the four cones.
  • Students will be following the directions of the teacher as they move around the gym in a counterclockwise direction.

Driving Actions: Teacher led demonstration followed by the students practicing the skill as they move around the gym.

  • Song 1.  Sound Effects  Start Your Engines: Turn on your car.
  • Song 2.  I’m Walkin’  Yellow light:  Move slowly with caution
  • Song 3.  Stop in the Name Red Light: Stop and Freeze
  • Song 4.  School Day  School Zone: Students are always happy as they go to school. Let’s see those happy children going to school.
  • Song 5.  Greased Lightning Highway: Speed limit is now 70 mph, not 20 mph like in the school zone. So, get moving!
  • Song 6. Rock Around Uphill: Lift your knees up high as you march up the hill.
  • Song 7. At the Hop  Flat tire – Hop on one foot until you are so tired you have to pull over. You may stand on one foot and balance as you await assistance.
  • Song 7. Grease Tunnel: Bend your knees and drive.
  • Song 8.  Sound effects Emergency vehicle: Pull over to the right side as the siren sounds.

Two Directions at the same time!

  • Song 9 . Happy Yellow Light and School Zone –Slowly Skip in a School Zone
  • Song 10. Sound effects Uphill and in Reverse March backwards
  • Song 11.  Afro Nuts Reverse and School Zone Skip Backward in the school zone
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Cup Stacking: Sport Stacking

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Cup Stacking

For a free set of  Speedstacks and a DVD: Go to their teacher web site and fill out their online information. Click the Cup stacking picture (above), or the following link:

Speed Stacks Teacher Central

Basic Stacking Information

  • Introduction: The first day of cup-stacking is a DVD or smart board video if your students have not been previously  introduced. The DVD, videos  and other Sport-stacking items are available at the Speedstacks website. There are also many videos on  You Tube.

Teach Stacking in order of difficulty:

  • 3-3 Stack
  • 3-3-3 Stack
  • 6 Stack
  • 1-10-1 Stack

Six Stack -up stack

  • Start with 6 cups in front of you
  • Take 3 cups with your right and 2 cups with your left
  • Leave one cup down
  • Spread the cups apart with your fingers
  • Release the bottom cup of your right hand to the right of the center cup so you now have 2 cups left in that hand
  • Release the bottom cup with your left hand to the left of the center cup
  • Release the next cup from your right hand on top of the center
  • Set the cup on in the left hand next to it
  • Put the final cup on on top with right hand

6 Stack -Down stack

  • Place right hand on top cup and your left hand on the second cup on the left
  • Slide to the right with your right hand, at the same time slide left with your left hand
  • Take the 3 cups in your left hand and the 2 cups in your right hand and put them in one stack of 6 cups

Partner Challenge:

  • Sets of cups are needed for each students.
  • Students sit in pairs across from each other.
  • Teacher designates a stacking formation:
  • 3-3-3-3
  • 3-6-3
  • 1-10-1
  • Start in down-stack position.
  • Stand up when up-stacking and down-stacking are complete.
  • Teacher gives the accumulated time count after the first person is standing.

Around the Table

  • (Set up tables so four people to six people are able to stack at the same time)
  • Students stand behind a table in front of down-stacked cups.
  • Teacher designates a stacking formation:
  • 3-3-3-3
  • 3-6-3
  • 1-10-1
  • After upstacking and downstacking –
  • Rotate to the right and begin the next stack.
  • Continue until everyone is back to their starting position.

Shuttle Relay

  • Students stand in shuttle relay style.
  • Cups are set up in the middle of the gym with one stack for each team. (in line with their team position)
  • Teacher designates a stacking formation:
  • 3-3-3-3
  • 3-6-3
  • 1-10-1
  • On the signal, the first stacker runs to the middle and stacks up.
  • Then they run to their teammates on the opposite end of the gym and give them a “five”.
  • This stacker goes to the middle and down-stacks.
  • Continue until everyone is back to the starting position, or…
  • Set a time, such as 2 minutes and see how many stacks can be made in that amount of time.

Scooter Relay

  • Students are lined up in teams in relay style with a partner.
  • Each team has two scooters linked together.
  • Each team has downstacked cups in the middle of the gym floor and at the opposite end.
  • Two students from each team will take turns as the pusher and the rider.
  • One partner from each team is sitting on the scooter, with feet extended forward
  • The other partner (next in line) will be pushing.
  • One set of 6 cups is on middle gym line.
  • Three sets of three cups are at the opposite end of the gym.
  • Students are pushed on the scooters to the center stack – up-stack the three sets of three.
  • Then, travel to the opposite end and up-stack the 6 cup stack
  • Now partners switch places and the new “rider” will down-stack the same set of cups.
  • Return to the beginning of the line and pass the scooters to the next partners in line.
  • Continue until everyone has had a turn up-stacking and down-stacking.
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