Overview

December is a time for many celebrations – Help your students be active during celebrations, recess and physical education class this month with some holiday magic.

Reindeer Training Game

Materials Needed:

• Holiday music
• Posters
• Markers
• Low balance beam
• Five tall cones
• Five hurdles
• Three scooters
• Three ropes
• Set up each station around the gym and have students rotate clockwise to each one every three minutes or after the completion of one song. Use posters to label the stations.

To play:

1. Ask students to imagine that the gym/outdoor area is the North Pole and they are reindeer preparing to take the toys to all of the children. The reindeer must go through training to make sure they are fit enough for the job.
2. Set up each station around the gym and have students rotate clockwise to each one every three minutes or after the completion of one song. Use posters to label the stations.
3. Before starting the stations, do a Reindeer Trot Warm-up: Students jog around the gym/outdoor area for the duration of one song.
4. After the warm-up, divide students evenly into five groups and direct them to their starting station.

The stations:

• Rooftop Balance: Students move on hands and ‘hooves’ across the balance beam pretending it is the rooftop of a house. This is the balance-training portion of the circuit.
• Tree Weave: Students gallop in and out of the trees (tall cones) to work on the skill-related fitness component of agility.
• Cloud Leap: Students will train to fly over the clouds by practicing the locomotor skill of leaping over the hurdles.
• Sled Pull: One student pretends to be the toy on the sled (scooter) and sits cross-legged, holding a rope. The other student must use the rope to slowly pull the sled to the opposite side of the gym. Then the students switch places. Remind the students that if they pull too fast or too hard, the sled may tip over and the toys will fall off and go to the wrong houses.
• Chimney Toss: Students stand around the “chimney” and toss deck rings or beanbags underhand into the trash can (chimney). After tossing the objects, students may retrieve them and keep tossing until it is time to rotate to the next station.

This activity was adapted from PE Central.