Keeping Kids in Motion
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Can You “STAND” It? – Game of the Week
For this week’s Game of the Week, I’ve chosen two versions of one of my favorite cooperative/team building challenges. CAN YOU “STAND” IT? can be played casually as partners try for a personal best or as a more intense relay race. Below are two videos of each version.
Version #1:
With my younger students, we play CAN YOU “STAND” IT? with a less slippery foam cylinder.
- Spread out 20 poly spots around the gymnasium.
- Partner up your students. I like to match up students rather than allowing the students to find their own partners. It’s important for them to be able to work with a variety of people, not just their best buddies. Also, this eliminates the awkward times when students are unable to find a partner.
- Partner begin by standing on the perimeter of the gym with their cylinder, cone, or bowling pin.
- Set a timer for a preferred amount of time. I usually go for three minutes.
- Partners then have three minutes to try and stand their cylinder up on as many spots as possible using only their feet.
- After three minutes, and a short time processing, students repeat the process with a new partner.
Watch the game in action below.
Version #2
For my older students I like to level up the challenge by playing CAN YOU “STAND” IT? in a relay formation with a bowling pin.
- Each set of partners has two matching poly spots, one on each end of the gymnasium. one spot is where they start and the other is where they stand up their pin using only their feet.
- Set a time for a preferred amount of time. I prefer three minutes per round.
- Partners stand at their starting spot with their pin.
- On the command, Go!, they run across the floor and attempt to stand up their pin on their other stop.
- Following each successful attempt, they sprint back to their starting spot, touch it with their feet, then repeat.
- After three minutes, and a short time processing, students repeat the process with a new partner.
I love that this challenge encourages teamwork while adding in a bit of fitness as they race across the floor.
Watch the game in action below.
When I first played this game, students were charged with standing their cylinder on as many lines or intersections as possible as seen below.