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10 NOODLE Activities to Embolden Your Arsenal
When Steve Hartman invented the pool noodle three decades ago, I bet he had no idea they would become one of the most cost-effective, beneficial tools in nearly every physical education teacher’s arsenal. Below are ten of my all-time favorite pool noodle activities. Be sure to comment on your favorite pool noodle games below!
Check out my previous post called Tag Games Using Hoops and Noodles!
*If embedded videos do not show up on your device, click the name of each activity for a link to the video.
Pool Sharks
Pool Sharks has become a noodle favorite with our students. It begins as a partner activity with one partner on each side of a hula hoop, each with a noodle pool cue. From about 5-10 feet away, they take turns shooting the ball into the hoop. Students experiment with different ways to hold the stick as they work on accuracy and pace.
Next, I spread out hula hoops around the gym floor. Students can move freely around the gym shooting at each hoop. I give them the freedom to choose the distance.
Video Credit: Jedd Austin (@jeddaustin)
Noodle Sprockets
Noodle Sprockets is a fun fitness-based activity which works in groups of 2-4 students. However, I always begin with partners. Not only does this activity increase heart rates, but it also challenges students to think strategically. Especially in groups of three and four, students need to slow down and maneuver themselves to avoid jumping into each other. It’s always exciting for me to observe groups as they gradually develop a rhythm and jump their way across the floor.
Noodle Walkers
Noodle Walkers is actually a student discovery. It looks like the old-fashioned wheelbarrow race but is actually easier on the hands and wrists. Students find it to be even more fun. It shouldn’t be a surprise when your students fill the gym with laughter and excitement while increasing heart rates and working on physical strength.
The Great Spaghetti Incident
How many pieces of spaghetti can each team move across the kitchen without using their hands and without allowing the spaghetti to hit the floor? After dropping the spaghetti into the colander, the team retrieves another piece of spaghetti and attempts to move it across the kitchen using a different method. Encourage open, positive communication and teamwork during this fast-paced cooperative activity. Don’t forget to process during and after the game.
Pogo Stick Tag
Aren’t noodles fun? Seeking creative ways to use our noodles, one student discovered that his hopping motion reminded him of his pogo stick at home. Brilliant! Let’s play Pogo Stick Tag! Every student has a noodle. For my classes of twenty, I break them into groups of five. Each group receives a certain color. I choose one color to be it. If a student is tagged by the chosen color, she walks to the sideline and completes ten repetitions of a predetermined exercise, then reenters the game. After one minute, I choose another color to be it.
Noodle Whirlers
1/3 of the students are NOODLE WHIRLERS. The Noodle Whirler’s mission is to hop over to any standing cylinder and knock it down by jumping and spinning the noodle into it. It’s like a baseball bat striking a ball. The other 2/3 of the class must pick up the noodle using two Lummi sticks. No Lummi sticks? No problem! Instead, use paddles, or short noodles, or even elbows! Make it your own!
Noodle Fitness Creations
So many of my noodle activities have come from this activity. Students are challenged to create exercises using noodles. This is another fun, teambuilding activity geared to make fitness fun.
Video Credit: Jedd Austin (@jeddaustin)
Noodle Transfer
How many ways can you transfer the noodle across the gym without using your hands? The noodle must be touching both of you. To observe young minds at work throughout this activity will without a doubt put a smile on any teacher’s face.
4-Team Noodle Hockey Clean Up
I use this activity during our manipulatives unit. I set up four even teams. Each team has its own color noodle and goal. I spread out a bucket of balls on one end of the gym and each of the four goals, backward, on the opposite end. On the signal, students move the balls across the floor and shoot it into their own goal. The goals are backward to prevent full court shots. I encourage the students to move quickly and safely while maintaining control of the ball. “Be alert since there are so many of you moving at once!” After each goal, students run back to retrieve another ball.
Team Building Noodle Walk
Create teams of four. Taking turns, each team tries to step across the boundaries (water) touching only the noodles. Teammates who are not walking on the noodles must reposition the noodles for the walker. When a partner makes it across the “water” successfully, another teammate attempts to do the same. I encourage groups to explore a variety of ways to complete the challenge. Remind students that it’s not a race.
There you have it! 10 noodle activities which will hopefully embolden your arsenal!
Be sure to check your local dollar stores and big box stores toward the end of the swim season. I recently found noodles for $0.22 each.
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Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?
Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?
Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?
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