#895. Magic Wand

Phys Ed, level: Elementary
Posted Fri May 16 19:20:51 PDT 2003 by Bertrand Gagne (simon@interlinks.net).
Durham School Board, Oshawa , Ontario , Canada
Materials Required: any kind of sting / plastic
Activity Time: yes
Concepts Taught: jumping , skipping , squatting

Please excuse my errors as French is my first language. Great game for early primary grades.
Ask the children to form a circle leaving some space between them as they will have to jump and duck. Teacher introduces a short story telling the students that he/she has in hand a magic stick ( wand ) which gives the power to change them in ( frog / other animal ). First the teacher goes around slowly trying to touch the students toes/feet. They have to jump in order to avoid being transform . After a minute you inform them that you will now try to touch their head using with the same magic wand. Repeat the exercice this time students have to duck. After a minute, stop again and tell the children that this time you will do both try to touch their feet or their head. Normally the teacher becomes exhausted after a couple minutes.....even if the children will love to play this game longer. You can always ask a student to do it but you have to make sure that he/she will not hit anyone with the stick a suggest a foam noodle as used in water for swimming. After playing this game for more than 5 years I am still trying to change my first student into a frog. Believe me, they will try hard to avoid being transform..... Thanks Bertrand Gagné, Oshawa , Ontario, Canada