Creative Games for Beanbag Activities (Part 2)
FOUR COLOR TAG
- Beanbags of four different colors
- One beanbag per student
- Students scattered in general space
- Music
While music plays, students carry their beanbag and walk in general space. When the music stops, students freeze, and the teacher calls out a color. All students with a beanbag of that color become the taggers. Tagged students remain in the game and continue to try to avoid being tagged. They may tally the number of times they're tagged. Ask taggers to tag as many different students as possible. Play in timed rounds suited to students' abilities and fitness levels.
To heat it up, designate a fitness area for students who have been tagged and are waiting to reenter the game. Have students do an assigned activity when they're tagged.
Ask students to say what fairness means to them. Have them give examples of playing the game fairly without mentioning names. Promote student integrity and responsibility by emphasizing that students need to be honest and accurate when they tally the number of times that they've been tagged.
HASTY HELPERS
- Four foam balls
- Four beanbags
Students spread out in general space. Designate four students as taggers, and give each of them a foam ball. Designate four students as "hasty helpers", and give each of them a beanbag. At the signal, taggers try to tag students with their foam ball. Tagged students freeze in place. A hasty helper who spots frozen students moves close to that student and gently tosses her or him a beanbag. If the student catches the beanbag, he or she unfreezes and takes over as a hasty helper. If the student doesn't catch the beanbag, the helper picks it up and looks for another student to help. Taggers may not tag helpers.
Use balls instead of beanbags, and add skills. For example, helpers can bounce-pass basketballs to frozen students.
Keep the same taggers for a designated amount of time. Select new taggers from among students who are playing the game correctly. Have students first play the game at a walking pace, as a simple tag game without helpers. Students freeze and count to 25 before resuming play.
HOT POTATO
- Students form groups of five or six.
- Each group forms a circle and gets a beanbag.
- In groups, form one big circle.
Within each group, students toss the beanbag around their circle while the teacher chants, "Hot Potato, hot potato. Who's got the hot potato? If you've got the hot potato, you move on." When the chant ends, every student holding a beanbag gives it to the player on the right and moves counterclockwise to play in the next circle.
This game promotes interaction and friendship by having students work in circle formation and in small groups. Such interaction helps students to feel comfortable with others of any national origin or ethnicity. Encourage students to welcome new players.
STOP, BOP, AND DROP
- One beanbag per student
- Music
While music plays, students walk with a beanbag in their hands. Intermittently, the teacher calls out one of the following signals. Students perform the designated action for 30 seconds and then resume walking around the room.
- Stop: perform a beanbag trick.
- Bop: Jog in place with high knees while moving the beanbag in a figure-eight pattern under and around your legs.
- Drop: Drop to the floor, get into a push-up position, place the beanbag on the floor, and push it from side to side.
TRADING SPACES
- Place in a circle one beanbag per student, each bag of different colors.
- One student, the chaser, stands in the middle of the circle.
- All other students stand by a beanbag.
The teacher calls out a color. Students who are standing by a beanbag of that color trade places with one another of the same color bag. The chaser tries to tag students who are trading places. Students tally the number of times that they're tagges. Change taggers often.
To lower the intensity, eliminate the chaser. Ask students to trade colors. When the teacher calls a color that doesnt correspond to any of the beanbags, all students trade places.
From the Book, PE Connections: Helping Kids Succeed Through Physical Activity ( Thomas M. Fleming and Lisa Bunting)
