Purposeful PLAY: Fun Forest Adventure: Leaping Hot Lava, Stopping Big Boulders, Kicking Prickly Pinecones

This activity allows students the opportunity to continue to practice their dominant foot kick and foot trap combined with previously learned locomotor and non-locomotor skills. It prompts them to use their creativity and imagination while they have fun interacting and cooperating with each other.

Procedure:

1. Tell students that in this activity called Fun Forest Adventure: Leaping Hot Lava, Stopping Big Boulders, Kicking Prickly Pinecones, they will be using a variety of locomotors, including leap, foot trap, and kick, and their favorite foot awareness to have fun, move around, and improve their skills.
2. Share that they are going to pretend they are moving outside in a varied landscape. (e.g., out in a forest with tall trees, big boulders/rocks, erupting volcanos, mountains, pinecones, etc.)
3. Explain to students that when the music is on, they should move around the activity space using all their locomotors.
4. Tell them there are areas of the activity space (forest) that are going to have “boulders,” “prickly pinecones,” or “hot lava” flowing through.
   • If they come to a hot lava lane (jump rope), they should try to leap over it without letting any part of their foot dip into it. (Review with them that when leaping, they should leap from their kicking foot to their non-kicking foot.)
   • If they come to a rolling ball (boulder) they should stop it by trying a balanced foot trap on top of it for ten counts.
   • If they approach a smaller type of ball, they should try to kick it out of the way with their favorite kicking foot because it is a “prickly pinecone”.
5. Share that they should be using all their safe moving skills to move to all areas of the forest without bumping/banging into any other forest friends.
6. Tell students that when the music stops, they should find another forest friend, lock hands with them and try to balance on their favorite kicking foot until the music starts again.
7. Remind them that this will take cooperation, to balance together without causing each other to fall over. Demonstrate with a student.
8. Ask quick recall questions:
   • What skills are we using? (Locomotors, leap, foot trap, favorite foot awareness)
   • Which skill are we using to get us over the hot lava? (Leap)
   • What should you do if you approach a small style of ball? (Kick)
9. Start music to begin activity. (Upbeat sounds of nature music would be motivating)
10. Intermittently pause music and cue for students to find a forest friend and balance on their kicking foot.
11. Move through activity space and call out cue words for skill reminders and encourage best effort and cooperation.

Transition:

When music pauses for the final time, ask students to find a forest friend to hold hands with and try to balance on their favorite foot with them. (Ask clean-up crew to pick up balls that are spread out in activity area)