Equipment Set-Up
Purposeful PLAY Equipment/Set-up
  • Music (nature-inspired)
  • Music delivery system
  • 5 Jump ropes
  • 5 dense foam 4 to 6-inch balls
  • Set out jump ropes to make lava lanes and spread out the balls to represent river rocks.

Purposeful PLAY: Fun Forest Adventure: Leaping Hot Lava, Moving & Stopping River Rocks

This activity allows students the opportunity to continue to practice their dominant foot kick, foot trap and foot dribble 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, Fun Forest Adventure: Leaping Hot Lava, Moving & Stopping River Rocks, they will be using a variety of locomotors, including leap, foot trap, foot dribble, and favorite foot awareness to have fun, move around, and improve their skills.
  2. Review that they are going to pretend they are moving outside in an area with varied landscape. (e.g., out in a forest with tall trees, big boulders/rocks, erupting volcanos, and mountains).
  3. Explain to students that when the music is on, they should move around the activity space using all their locomotors and trying to move in various pathways. Challenge them to move straight, curvy, zigzagged, etc. as they move throughout the pretend forest.
  4. Remind them there are areas of the activity space (forest) that are going to have “river rocks” 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/dominant foot to their non-kicking/non-dominant foot.)
    • If they come to a ball (river rock) they should try to move it back and forth with their foot dribble 10 times and then stop it by trying a balanced foot trap on top of it for 10 counts.
  5. 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.
  6. Remind them that this will take cooperation, to balance together without causing each other to fall over. Demonstrate with a student.
  7. Ask quick recall questions:
    • What skills are we using? (Locomotors, leap, foot trap, foot dribble, favorite foot awareness)
    • Which skill are we using to get us over the hot lava? (Leap)
    • Which foot are we focusing on when balancing with a friend? (Favorite/dominant foot)
  8. Start music to begin activity. (Upbeat sounds of nature music would be motivating)
  9. Intermittently pause music and cue for students to find a forest friend and balance on their kicking foot.
  10. 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).

Variations The skills in this activity can be layered progressively into the activity. For example, you could begin with the leaping over lava, then after 30 seconds pause music and add in another skill direction. Small circle rings could be set out in place of jump ropes and could represent puddles of mud to leap over if jump ropes are too tricky for the students to move around.