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Welcome to Fighting Obesity through FUN Presenter: Steven Santos Goals: To help you make fitness FUN Techniques: – Learn new games – Modifying games you know

Fighting Obesity through FUN So why is it that in many (most?) gym/field games, kids spend a lot of time “out” and inactive? Why is it that the kids who are “out” the most are usually the ones that need to be moving the most?

Jump the Sock (Volunteers needed) If you are not playing: Who was the most active? Who was out first and last? Did everyone have fun for the whole game? Why?

Why most gym games hurt… Most gym games are very old – The majority date a time before obesity was a major issue We are no longer starting on an even playing field. It’s a lot more work to catch up than it used to be. Being ‘out’ is no longer a significant motivator Being ‘out’ is being inactive, putting kids further behind.

Basics on changing the game Questions to think about: How do we take out down time? How do we make this game more active for all kids? What rule changes can we make to put fitness in place of an out? How do we keep it exciting?

Kid Beater-Upper Stick Objectives: Jumping, dodging, following patterns, quick thinking Equipment: Kid Beater-upper Stick (4+ foot long PVC pole covered with a pool noodle) Kids: 4 or more Playing Area: Open Space Cues: Penalties (exercise to rejoin the game)

Basic Game Description: There are two rules to the kid beater-upper stick. – The first rule is that kids can not touch the kid beater- upper stick in any way, for any reason, ever. – The second rule is that the Kid Beater-upper stick is never wrong (e.g. if you get bopped, you need to pay attention, jump higher and move faster!). To play this game the adult stands in the center of the circle and spins the stick. When the stick is spun low, the kids jump over it. When the stick is spun high, they duck under it.

When (not if) you break the rules… In Jump the Sock, when a kid gets hit with the sock they are out. In the Kid Beater Upper Stick game, when the break the first rule, they must pay a penalty (perform a fitness activity) to rejoin the game.

Kid Beater Upper Stick (Volunteers needed) If you are not playing: Who was the most active? Did everyone have fun the whole game? What else made this fun?

Other tips on this game: As students improve with this game, start adding patterns. For example, go over one student, under the next, over the next, etc. In multi-age groups, make the penalties “to your grade” or “to your age” Some kids may need to be assigned a higher age/grade for this game. Slower is harder. The faster you spin, the easier it is to predict

Compare these two games

You can add a larger fitness component to virtually ANY game

Tips on adding fitness activities When introducing rule changes, do so slowly enough that your group can adapt to the first rule change before adding a second rule change. “Outs” are usually a great place to add a fitness activity - Rule changes most commonly trigger a fitness activity for an individual, however with structured team games you can also have them trigger fitness activities for a whole team. You should only add known and understood fitness activities to games. Games are a great way to practice fitness activities, but it is, in general, a poor way of teaching new fitness activities. Always practice and perfect the individual fitness activity with the whole group before adding it to a game.

Your Turn! (Large Group) Form a group of ____ people. With your group, select one gym game from Appendix 1. Take 4 minutes and modify that game to add a larger fitness component. Take 3 minutes to play a round.

Your Turn! (Small Group) Form a groups of 2 or 3 people. With your group, select one gym game from Appendix 1. Take 4 minutes and discuss with your partner how you can add a larger fitness component to that game. As a large group, discuss Select and try one game

Introducing new games… When introducing new games, or new game components, there are a number of things you need to keep in mind 1.Students will need to play a new game several times before they “get it”. This is especially true of more complex games. 2.It is easier to introduce new games when they are only a slight variation on a game the kids already know. For example, it is a lot easier to introduce the game Doctor dodge ball to a group that already knows the game Gym Dodge ball. 3.Practicing tough components of a game before starting the game can make it run a lot smoother. This is especially true for fitness components and complex movements.

Lets play a few more games… High Energy: Circus TAG! Medium Energy: The Fluid Towel – Round 1 – Round 2 Low Energy: Scene Freeze

Modifying game for Special Needs Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT always possible to modify a given game or activity to meet every special need. If you run into a game / special need(s) combination that you cannot make work with the time and resources you have, sometimes it’s best to move on to another game that is more easily adaptable to the situation you have.

Group Exercise: Form groups of 4-5 people. With your group, see how many game / special need combinations you can find that you can’t easily modify in class and write them out on a sheet of paper. For example, the game “Sharks and Minnows” cannot be easily modified to make it safe for a student or students in a power wheelchair or wheelchairs to play this game with a group of able-bodied students (note: it is the able bodied kids who are placed at an unacceptably higher risk in this situation).

Group Exercise #3: Pass your paper from exercise #2 to the group to the right. For each game / special need combination identified by that group, see if you can find a modification they missed, or suggest an alternate game and modification that would work. Choose one member of your group to present your modifications or alternate games to the whole group.