Promoting Play Kit Items
Item 1: The first item I would put in my Promoting Play Kit is a set of large foam dice. I mentioned this item in assignment 2 part 2 for a different activity. However, I have always been a fan of these foam dice as a way to promote play inside and outside of the gymnasium. Through personal experience, I have found that these dice can be utilized in an abundance of different activities that can promote play and physical activity. A bonus of having multiple of these large foam dice is that you can have a different role for each of the dice. There are so many different options to utilize these dice inside the classroom, outside, or in the gym.
Item 2: The second item I want to add to the PPK is an activity called ‘Fitness Bingo’. I have heard of this activity before from a family member who has played it and I was immediately intrigued and thought it was a great way to promote play and activity inside the classroom, outside, and even in the gymnasium. The purpose of this activity is to play bingo but add a fitness portion to it. I know that I have always loved the game of Bingo and I think it would be fun to play while being physically active. This activity allows for the brain to move because the students have to think about whether they have the motion or not on their Bingo card. This activity also allows for the student’s body to move around while completing the Bingo game. I believe that this activity can be played for a variety of ages and the teacher could make any modifications if necessary, for example, adding more reps from each movement for older grades.
Item 3: The third item that I will be adding to my PPK is a stereo system or something that can play music (could also be a smartboard with speakers). I am choosing this kind of object to go into my play kit because I believe that children can still get active and play while listening to fun, age/school appropriate music that will get the students moving. From observing in younger classrooms, I have seen where some teachers will play an animal movement song, where the students have to physically act like the animal being described in the song. I used to play a game called animal action (Youtube, 2014) with the 3-year-old kids that I coached for cheerleading as a Warm-Up activity. An activity involving music, play, and movement can also be played in older classrooms. This could include playing a few rounds of ‘Just Dance’ on the smartboard. I always enjoyed playing activities like this in elementary school because it allowed me to play with my friends while still moving our bodies to the moves on the screen.
(Google BlueTooth Speaker, 2020). (Google Just Dance, 2020).
Speaker/Stereo Just Dance Image Activity Example
Item 4: The fourth object that I will be putting into my Promoting Play Kit is a package of unused balloons. This is something small and simple, however, I believe that many students would enjoy playing with this type of item as it can also keep the children moving. Having the younger children blow their balloons up might be quite difficult, so the teacher could use a small pump to make the process go faster. I think balloons can be used as a way to promote play and physical activity because the students can work with a partner, group, or individually to keep the balloon up in the air. This could be an activity that is used throughout the day as a brain break to help give the students a break from sitting in their desks or chairs.
Item 5: The fifth item I will be putting into the Promoting Play Kit is sets of scoops and Wiffle balls. I am choosing these items because as a kid I was always really excited to play any game with these items. I used to play with these items in my elementary classrooms, it was always so much fun. I believe that these items can be used anywhere, not just in a PE classroom. These items are a good way to promote hand-eye coordination as well as getting the student’s bodies moving while they try to toss the ball up to a partner and catch the Wiffle ball. When using these items for movement activities, the teacher must remind the students to be cautious with their surroundings as they don’t want to hurt themselves or others.
Scoop and Wiffle Ball Activity
Item 6: The sixth item I want to incorporate into my PPK is the link to the GoNoodle website. I used this website before and I believe that it is fantastic to use when needing a brain break in the classroom. There are many activities to choose from on this website that will help promote student engagement and body movement. While looking through the activities on this website, I found an activity that I thought looked very fun and would like to one day incorporate into my future classroom. This activity is called ‘Squatchy Berger’s Rock and Roll’. This is not the only activity that promotes movement, as there are many to choose from. I am glad that I have been introduced to this fun and enjoyable website.
Promoting Play Kit Ideas/Activities
Activity 1: One activity that can be played using an item from my Promoting Play Kit is, in the classroom, have all the students make a large circle around the classroom and the teacher can throw the large foam dice (starting with one dice) to any student and that student can say a peers name and throw it to them. Throughout the activity, the teacher can add more foam dice to make the game more intense. I believe that this activity when played in the classroom can help develop spatial awareness because the students can’t throw it very hard or far, so they have to determine how lightly to throw the dice. Playing this activity can also develop a student’s skills in throwing, tossing, and catching, which can be used later in the gymnasium. If this type of activity were to be used in the gym or outside, you could have the students run around rather than standing in a circle. Or you could put the students in teams, having a different dice colour for each team (almost like ‘monkey in the middle’). This dice game could also be used as a fitness drill, the students could be in groups throughout the gym and they each have their own foam dice and a piece of paper with a variety of different movement skills on it. Each group could roll the dice and the number they roll will determine how many of the movement skills they must complete.
Activity 2: The second activity that is appropriate, engaging, and focuses on play includes many different types of balloon activities. A modification in the equipment could be using beach balls instead of balloons or soft foam dodgeballs. Some activities to be played with balloons include Balloon relay races. This activity could be played either in the gym or outside as you need lots of space to play and move around. The teams would have a variety of different skills to perform while holding onto the balloon. For example, a relay race skill could include doing the duck walk while holding onto the balloon. If the person drops the balloon, they may have to start over (the teacher can decide this rule if they want to use it or not). Another activity using the balloon could be balloon volleyball or tennis. I believe that these activities can help promote lots of play and physical activity for the students as they are fun and engaging.
Activity 3: The third activity that can be played is Fitness Bingo. I am very excited to play this game in my future classroom with my students as I think it will be very fun and engaging. Each student will receive a Bingo card and the teacher will have a bunch of movement/Bingo cards shuffled and spread out on a flat surface. When everyone is standing still, the teacher will pick up a random card and yell, for example, “N-5 Sit Ups” or “B-10 Jumping Jacks”. I believe that this game can be played in a lot of places, however, it may be difficult to complete some of these Fitness Bingo skills inside the classroom as space may be limited.
Activity 4: Another activity that can be played that promotes physical activity and develops movement skills outside of the gym is with the wiffle balls and scoops. Each student can have their own scoop and they form a large circle around the classroom or outside (if the weather permits). The game could start with one ball and as the game goes on, the teacher can add in more Wiffle balls to make the game more challenging. I remember playing a game similar to this in my elementary classroom and it was always super fun and engaging. I remember seeing lots of smiles and hearing lots of giggles from the students and teacher. This game could also be played individually, in pairs or in small groups, there are no limitations to how many people can play the game. If playing individually, the students could gently toss the ball up (depending on ceiling height) and catch with the scoop. The student could toss with a non-dominant hand and catch with the dominant hand and vice versa. If playing the game in pairs or groups, the students could gently toss the wiffle balls back and forth to one another.
Could this be used in an Elementary School setting?
I personally believe that these activities and items chosen for the Promoting Play Kit can be used within an Elementary school Setting. I believe that these activities and items are appropriate for the Elementary age groups. I also believe that the teacher will be able to make any modifications to any of these activities or items if they need to, in order to ensure that each student and age/grade level can participate. I chose a variety of different activities and items for the teacher to select from in order to promote play and physical activity throughout the day. I believe that it is important that educators are providing their students with many different activities and items for their students to explore, engage, and have fun with. While creating this Promoting Play Kit, I noticed that I am not just focusing on developing physical literacy, many other literacy components are being included. Listening skills play a large role in many of these activities and items because, in order to complete the task or goal, the student must listen to the cues and directions.
References
GoNoodle. (2020). GoNoodle Games. GoNoodle. Retrieved from https://www.gonoodle.com/blog/gonoodle-games-movement-app-for-kids/
Lakeshore. (2020). Jumbo Soft Dice. Lakeshore. Retrieved from https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/p/GS304
Lenovo. (2020). Bluetooth Speaker. Lenovo. Retrieved from https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en?clickid=zwiyKn2FExyLWKAwUx0Mo3b3UkEzbPQKQ1V6xg0&irgwc=1&PID=1994681&acid=ww%3Aaffiliate%3Abv0as6
Nintendo. (2020). Just Dance 2020. Nintendo. Retrieved from https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/just-dance-2020-switch/
PRSIST. (n.d.). Balloon Bounce. PRSIST. Retrieved from http://prsist.com.au/balloonbounce.php
SportFactor. (2020). Scoop Ball Set of 6 Colored Scoops and 12” Balls. SportFactor. Retrieved from https://www.sportfactor.net/product-p/pscb6.htm
Teacher Starter. (2020). Fitness Bingo. Teacher Starter. Retrieved from https://www.teachstarter.com/us/teaching-resource/fitness-bingo-us/
YouTube. (2014). Animal Action. Tumble Tots – Topic. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8l2HUU91Ro