Keeping Kids in Motion
Building a community where fitness and play are the foundation for all families.
Design a Backyard Obstacle Course Using Prepositions
Preposition: A word governing, and usually preceding, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause. (1)
Design Challenge: An open-ended project that encourages students to ask questions, take initiative, and think creatively. (2)
This design challenge is the perfect way for students to utilize their creativity while enhancing physical fitness.
Design Challenge Goals:
- Reinforce teamwork and communication skills among family members
- Provide a creative outlet for students
- Enhance student understanding of prepositions
- Incorporate a full-body workout
- Provide an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and have fun!
Writing Extension – After designing their course and practicing it several times, students can write out the step by step progression using the prepositions and descriptive words.
Click Design a Backyard Obstacle Course Using Prepositions for a copy of the challenge.
(1) “Preposition | Definition of Preposition in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries
(2) Design Challenge – http://www.raft.net/public/pdfs/tip-sheets/creating-a-design-challenge-tip-sheet.pdf
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Check out my Facebook group called Keeping Kids in Motion!
Subscribe to my Youtube Channel for over 100 useful games for physical education!
Healthy Breakfast Challenge – teaching our students the importance of breakfast and healthy food choices
Our teaching community has been nothing short of spectacular in sharing ideas and activities to keep our kids’ minds focused and bodies active while home during this challenging time.
Click Healthy Breakfast Challenge for a copy of the challenge and 4-week breakfast log.
Equally important is proper nutrition. Why not take this opportunity to remind parents and teach children the importance of eating a healthy breakfast?
Healthy Breakfast Challenge Goals
- to educate/remind students and parents about the significance of eating a complete, nutritious breakfast
- to define what a complete breakfast includes (carbohydrates, protein, vitamins/minerals)
- to introduce students to a variety of options for a complete breakfast
Above all, we want EVERY child to have the resources to put food in their body for breakfast. A slice of toast or an orange is better than nothing at all, right. However, no matter what the circumstance, I feel every family and child should learn the importance of a healthy breakfast and which types of foods can help us to perform at our best!
Click Healthy Breakfast Challenge for a copy of the challenge and 4-week breakfast log.
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/justybubpe.
Check out my Facebook group called Keeping Kids in Motion!
Subscribe to my Youtube Channel for over 100 useful games for physical education!
Build a Better Push-up – 9 Exercises to increase strength for a traditional push-up
Strength training for adults and kids is paramount to any workout program. Whether your goals are to improve your posture, balance, core strength, or simply strengthen your upper body, the one exercise that will help is the push-up.
The proper push-up form can be difficult. Several muscles in the chest, arms, shoulders, triceps, back, and neck all have to work in concert to perform this dynamic exercise flawlessly.
As a physical education teacher, I’ve observed the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly when it comes to push-ups.
The goal of this post is to help you and your students eliminate The Just Plain Ugly (PE teachers know what I’m talking about) as described below.
- Micro Push-ups – rapid-fire head movement with very limited, if any, flex in the arms throughout the movement
- Dipsy Doodles – arms remain extended, chest up, lower body thrusts up and down
- Halfsies – nice straight body but arms only flex a fraction throughout the movement (can be a good lead-up to a proper push-up)
- Floppy Fish – legs and waist flat on the ground, push up, then completely flop to the ground
Each class will usually have a couple of students who are push-up masters. They’re often the students who are gymnasts, study a martial art form, or they’re just extremely active and possibly practice push-ups at home.
However, many students simply haven’t developed the necessary muscle strength to fulfill a proper push-up, and this is fine. After all, we can’t teach them to run before they can walk. There are several simple exercises that can assist kids and adults in developing their strength, allowing them to eventually perform a perfect traditional push-up.
By incorporating the following exercises consistently, anyone can become a push-up master!
If the following videos do NOT appear, then click BUILD A BETTER PUSH-UP for access to the push-up playlist.
Wall Push-up
Tabletop Push-up
Incline Push-up
Crab Walk
Flexed Arm Plank
Negative Countdown Push-up
Positive Push-up
Wheel Barrow
Knee Push-up
“We must learn to walk before we can run.”
Let’s get rid of the bad and ugly push-ups and go for the perfect form one step at a time.
