Welcome to the School Stickers blog. The weather in Birmingham has been lovely lately so we’ve got one thing on our minds- summer and with summer comes sports day!
We’ve compiled a list of the top 11 teacher-approved sports day rewards here in case you missed it.
This week we’re focusing on the planning and preparing for the big day. We know sports days are hugely awaited all year round in some places and in others it might not be the main event of the year. One thing we know for certain though is that planning a sports day and deciding how to run it is a tricky task.
Between picking who times the relay race and who runs the water tables, someone has to come up with an activity plan.
One of our School Stickers Teachers has kindly shared his sports day activity station plan with us, you can see it here: Sports Day Activity Stations .
Below are some more sports day activity ideas in case you fancy trying something a little different to the standard egg and spoon races.
Bean bag balanced on the head race- As simple as it sounds, you can adjust the length of the race depending on the age/ability of contestants. This one is also great for wheelchair races!
Bridge building- For this you can pick any material that’s lying around to make your bridge stepping stones: you could use pieces of paper, scraps of fabric or exercise mats. Each team has 3-6 squares (depending on how many pupils are in each team) and the one rule is that the team have to get to the finish line without stepping off of the bridge pieces. The first team to get to the finish line by passing the last bridge pieces forward to create new spaces at the front wins the race! This is great fun for less athletic kids and good for team building.
Ross Elllott- Flickr
Washing up Race– Scatter equal amounts of plastic cups, plates and cutlery around the playground, field or sports hall you’re using to host your sports day in two running lanes. Place a washing up bowl at the end of each course. Both teams players take it in turns to collect kitchen ware one piece at a time, placing it in the washing up bowl and running to the back of their teams line, ready to collect another piece on their next turn. The first team to clear their running lane of kitchen equipment and place it in the bowl wins the race!
Fun fact: According to Bupa half of all physiotherapists have treated an adult with a sports day injury
Great for good spirited parents:
Fanning the fish- Cut out enough fish shapes out of paper or thin card for parents wanting to take part: the bigger the fish, the harder the race. Set the fish up on the start line (this is easier on a flat, hard surface such as a sports hall or playground) and get parents to crouch down behind their assigned fish with a newspaper or similar. Once the teacher blows the whistle the parents have to fan the fish all the way to the finish line. This ones great for parents of all ages and is also pretty entertaining for onlookers. A good referee should be appointed to look out for fish stealing tactics.
Ping Pong Push- Each competitor is required to push a ping pong ball over a short course with his/her nose. For extra difficulty (and entertainment) create a course that requires the player to push the ball back home and around corners.
Great for hot days (water sports):
The water bottle game- Two players (you can adjust this depending on class size), have a full bottle of water on the ground in front of them-no lids allowed. Player one has a ball which he throws at player two’s bottle, if the ball knocks the bottle over, player two has to get the ball back before picking his bottle up. Player two then throws the ball at player one’s bottle and the “loser” is the first one to lose all of the water. Mix things up by using bigger or smaller bottles.
Put a cup on your head- Caution: this race will result in wet pupils so is best played outside on hot days. Set up three bases, base one has a full plastic cup of water, base two has a hula hoop and base three has a bean bag, bucket and measuring cup.
- Base one: Balance your cup of water on your head
- Base two: Stand in the hula hoop and whilst keeping the water on your head bring the hoop up over your head
- Base three: Whilst keeping the bean bag on your head throw the bean bag into the bucket and then place the remaining water from the cup into the measuring cup
The winner is the person with the most water in their measuring cup at the end of the race. This is great because it doesn’t depend on the fastest child/team winning.
The Sponge- Teams stand in straight lines with a bucket of water with a sponge at the front of the row and an empty bucket at the end. Set a timer to run for a few minutes and when you press start the person at the front of each row dips the sponge in the bucket of water. The sponge then gets passed top the back of the line where the last person squeezes the water into the bucket. When the timer beeps the team with the most water in their empty bucket wins.
Thanks for reading! If you have any wacky and weird sports day activity ideas feel free to share in the comments for fellow teachers and parents.
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