Field Day is a special day to me. I usually dedicate a lot of time into this day for students, but this year was different. Students weren’t going to be at school for it.
The idea of a Virtual Field Day had come to mind. I always themed my Field Days, but had to change it this year, because I wanted to have students with me to experience the theme. I switched this year’s title to CAMP FIELD DAY. Students would be with their families, and they could give their family a camp name.
There are a few different options for Camp Field Day. You can use the stations I created as a guide and send them to students, or you can use the templates and have students create their own station ideas.
Option 1: Stations Included
I have created 7 different camp stations for students and their families to participate in. These include Watch Your Step, Are You Packed Yet, Come And Get It, Be Careful It’s Hot, Stay Hydrated, Lost In The Woods, Gone Swimming. Each station is named after the elements of the camp, and also designed by certain campers. The stations also include equipment suggestions and the rules of the activity.
Find the Camp Field Day station ideas here.
Option 2: Students Create Their Own Stations
Instead of creating stations yourself or providing them with stations, you can have students create their own stations. My students had plenty of resources to use from what I had sent them, as well as OPEN (Online Physical Education Network) creating activities for National Field Day. I emailed and sent out an outline to the teachers to send to their students of what to do. The PDF includes 7 blank templates.
Find the Camp Field Day templates here.
I put camping badges with each station and told them to come up with a title for the station, description, rules, and draw a diagram of what it looked like. This was the first year it was up to the students to create stations, and I felt like it was a great idea. Not all students are going to have the same thing at home. I told them to send in their ideas, along with pictures and videos, and I would send it in to see if it would get published online. I also created check-in videos to see how their day was going. The other neat thing was it could be indoor or outdoor activities, just in case the weather was bad. I had them stations themed around camping, they were fun to make. This kept them safe, active, and spent time with their family too.
About the Author:
Drew Burris is in his 9th year of teaching Physical Education at Ridge View Elementary in Warrensburg, MO. He has been published on PE Central, published in The Great Activities Magazine, won the 2015 Star of the Classroom, won the 2016 CTA Teacher of the Year, won the 2018 MOSHAPE West Central District Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year, and presents at MOSHAPE (Missouri SHAPE Convention) every year. Drew says the best part of his job is seeing the students learning and also having fun being physically active. Drew has a website: projectphysed.weebly.com with all his and other physical educators content on it. Twitter handle is @projectphysed.
