{"id":3422,"date":"2016-03-29T18:21:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T22:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ssww.com\/blog\/?p=3422"},"modified":"2019-07-12T11:12:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T15:12:23","slug":"team-building-pe-activity-with-hula-hoops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssww.com\/blog\/team-building-pe-activity-with-hula-hoops\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Building PE Activity with Hula Hoops"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hulaBuild and Take Shelter<\/strong>: A Simple Team Building PE Activity Using\u00a0Hula Hoops<\/h1>\n

Throughout my 21 years of teaching physical education, hula hoops have always been an effective tool in my arsenal of equipment. \u00a0Of their countless uses, one of my favorite activities with hula hoops is a team building challenge I call \u201cBuild and Take Shelter.\u201d\u00a0 This activity can be modified for any level from kindergarten and up.<\/p>\n

The Set Up:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The set up for Build and Take Shelter is simple.\u00a0 Prior to the students entering the gym, I spread out piles of six hula hoops throughout the gym.\u00a0 When the students enter, we gather in an \u201cinformation formation\u201d to discuss our cooperative mission.\u00a0 This is when I slowly demonstrate how to build a sphere or \u201cshelter\u201d with the hoops.\u00a0 I explain that our shelter will consist of six parts: the foundation, two walls, a front door, a back door, and a roof.\u00a0 I give the students an opportunity to study the shelter for about 30 seconds before I demonstrate how to build it one more time.\u00a0 For younger classes, I will leave this shelter set up so students can use it as a visual guide.<\/p>\n

The Mission:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I explain to the class that in groups of three, they will have to build their own shelter.\u00a0 Once their shelter is built, they each need to take turns crawling through it without knocking it down. If the shelter collapses, they simply rebuild and try again. Once each player has crawled through successfully, they repeat the process.<\/p>\n

Variation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After building the shelter a second time, the group can attempt to fit all three members of the group inside the shelter without knocking it down.<\/p>\n

Build and Take Shelter is a simple, quick activity which helps to reinforce students\u2019 ability to communicate and share responsibility as they work as a team. Give it a try! Your students will love it. View the video below to see my students doing the activity.<\/p>\n