Challenge Time: Skill Stations

This purposeful play allows students to explore appropriate fundamentals of locomotors, balance, and object control in various ways at specific skill stations. It provides opportunities for students to use previously learned skills in new ways to challenge themselves.

Procedure:

1. Share with students that they will continue to use skills to try to challenge themselves.
2. Remind them that they will use their locomotors and other previously learned skills (object control) to try to complete different challenges at each station.
3. Remind students that it is okay if they don’t succeed at the challenge, because some things can be difficult to do the first few times that you try them, but they should keep trying with their best effort to try to improve at the challenge.
4. Remind them that each team will start at a challenge station and stay there trying their skills, until they hear your cue for them to move to the next station.
5. Review that they will be moving in a clockwise direction to the next station.
6. Review each challenge station and the expectations for that station.
7. Assign each team a station to begin at.
8. Start music to begin activity.
9. Pause music every 2 minutes and cue students to move to the next skill challenge station.

Possible Skill Challenge Stations to Explore:

• Snake Swamp: Ropes set on the ground throughout the station area. Students attempt to locomotor throughout that area without touching any of the snakes. They may move around the snakes or attempt to jump/hop/leap over them. (Can you move yourself all through the swamp area and never touch any of the snakes? Can you jump/hop/leap over a snake without touching it?)
• Bucket Toss: Various sizes of buckets/containers with various types of throwing objects (Can you toss your ball into a bucket from one step away? How about 2 or 3 steps away?)
• Crazy Cone Run: Cones set in pathways with varying amounts of distance between the cones. (Can you do your fastest run through the cone path without touching or tipping any of them?)
• Through the Tunnel: Various sized hula hoops and age-appropriate sized foam balls (Can a partner from your team stand up a hoop while you try to push pass your ball through it, using your feet? Take turns with each other and try it!)
• Over/Under: Various heights of hurdles positioned in a straight pathway (Can you go over a hurdle without touching it and then under a hurdle without touching it, try an over/under/over/under/over/under pattern)
• Stack and Strike: Stacking cups or tissue boxes and medium-sized foam balls (Can you make a stack with your cups/boxes and then stand away from it and hand strike your ball to it and knock it down?)

Transition:

Ask students to high-five their teammates and begin walking one lap around the activity area. Clean up crew can begin picking up station equipment at this time.