My name is Lindsay Karp, I teach physical education and health at Bret Harte Elementary and A. Russell Knight Elementary in Cherry Hill, NJ. Master the Minute Challenges are fun, team orientated, and focused on a variety of skills. I first saw these activities on Twitter from Justin Cahill. I modified some of these challenges to make my students more successful within their skill-set. I used these challenges during our “Health and Wellness” week while we discussed fitness components and nutrition.

Equipment:

• Pool noodles
• Gator Skin balls
• Rubber deck rings
• Poly spots
• 12-inch cones
• 36-inch cones
• Lollipop paddles
• Foam balls

Set-Up:

Split gym into 4-6 stations (however many works for your classes)

Activity Instructions:

**I have large classes, so this can always be modified for smaller classes*

Pool Sharks:

• In pairs, students will use their pool noodle to hit the gator ball into the hoop. Every time a ball landed in a hoop, they received one point. I had them play against their partner, each student had three tries and they would count up their points.

For my older students I added poly spots in the hoops, that were worth more points if the ball landed on them.

Ring It:

• In pairs, one student holds the noodle, while their partner throws deck rings trying to land around the noodle.

For my younger students, they used their arm, if the noodle was too hard.

Ballers:

• In pairs, one student will underhand toss the ball to their partner. Their partner is then using a poly spot (or I used giant Frisbees that I got from Five Below) to hit the ball into the basketball hoop or any other goal.

I also had students strike the ball with their hand to make them more successful.

Flippin’ Cones:

• In a circle formation with six 12-inch cones around one 36-inch cone partners will try to “flip” their cone to land on the tall middle cone.

Students can play against other groups or play against each other

Paddle Ball Pick-Up:

• In pairs, students will each have a paddle, they will try to pick up ball off of the floor, carry it to the cone, and place it on top of a cone without it falling off.

Students can race against other groups, if the ball falls, they can start over, you can give them a time limit, the possibilities are endless!

My students really enjoyed these challenges. Once they went through all of the stations, we then had faceoffs for each activity. The competition was fierce and allowed students to choose an activity they really exceled at for the faceoff!

About the Author:

Lindsay Karp is currently an elementary physical education teacher in Cherry Hill, NJ. She received her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of South Florida and is currently working on her Master’s degree in School Administration. She loves spending time with her family and friends and is always looking for new ideas for class! Follow her on Twitter @PeMrskarp