Help your students stay active this school year
participating in the annual Live Healthy Iowa Kids Fall Fitness Day – register
today. Live Healthy Iowa Kids will award 25 - $100 mini-grants to support
Fall Fitness Day activities at Iowa schools. Applications
due September 12!
The activity options are endless for this fun day - check
out these fun nature games that will get your students up and moving while
learning about nature and wildlife.
Deer Tag
Select 2-4 students to be hunters. The remaining students
are deer in a forest. Hunters are positioned across the play area. Deer start
at one end of the “forest” and try to get to the other side without being
tagged by a hunter. As deer are tagged, they become hunters. As an extra
challenge, include restrictions on how the hunters can tag the deer (e.g. right
hand only, one hand behind their back, hopping on one foot).
For older students, partition the play area in fourths or
halves. Limit the number of hunters allowed in each area.
Migration Maze
Students are migratory birds traveling between nesting
habitats and wintering grounds. Divide the playing area into three areas: one
end - nesting habitat; middle - Iowa stopover (safe zone); other end -
wintering grounds.
Place 1 carpet square per 2 students throughout the Iowa
stopover (middle area). Students start in the nesting habitat and “fly” (flap
their arms) like birds as they race to the Iowa stopover. In the stopover area,
they must have at least one foot on the carpet square; only 2 students can be
on each carpet square. Students who are left without a carpet square are out
and must wait on the sidelines. Students then “fly” to the wintering grounds.
Remove a carpet space from the Iowa stopover. Students fly
back through the Iowa stopover on their way to the nesting habitat. Repeat
rounds (flying from nesting habitat to Iowa stopover to wintering grounds and
back). Remove a carpet square every time the students leave the Iowa stopover.
Leap Frog
Mark off two parallel lines (using chalk, masking tape, or
rope) two to three feet apart to create a stream. For large groups, create several streams to
keep all students active.
Students line up on both sides of the stream, facing each
other (towards the middle). Outside of the lines are the “banks of the stream”
and the middle is “in the stream.” The leader will call out one of two
commands: “in the stream” or “on the bank.”
Students must leap like frogs according to the command. If a
player follows the wrong command, they must sit out. The leader can repeat the
command “in the stream” while players are in the stream and if any student
moves, they are out of the game. To add further challenge, the leader can give
false commands like the “in the lake” or “in the ocean.” Students should only
move to the commands “in the stream” or “on the bank.”
Pheasant Hunt
Students form a line alternately facing in opposite
directions in a squatting position. The first student in line is the
"pheasant" and may run around the line in either direction. The last
student is the "fox." The fox must run around the line in the same
direction he/she starts, trying to catch the “pheasant.” The "fox"
can step into line behind a player, tap his/her shoulder, and change places
with him/her. When the "pheasant" is caught, the "fox"
becomes the "pheasant" and the tagged "pheasant" gets in
line opposite from the "fox" starting end. A new "fox"
starts the chase anew.
Metamorphosis Relay
Students are butterflies racing through their various life
stages. Divide students into two teams. Students begin the race in a curled up
position to represent an egg.
Station 1 – the caterpillar: students wiggle through a maze,
searching for food
Station 2 – the chrysalis: students climb into a burlap sack
and race to the next station
Station 3 – the adult caterpillar: students grab a colorful
scarf and “flies” to the finish line
How Many Coyotes Can
Live in this Forest?
Students are coyotes collecting food to survive. For a group
of 25 – 30 coyotes, spread 25 each of 4 colors (green, blue, yellow, red) of
rubber bands throughout the playing area. Each color of rubber band represents
a different food in the coyote’s diet (green – plants; blue – cottontail
rabbits; yellow – mice; red – deer).
Place a plastic bag at the start line for each student.
Students must gallop through the play area, pick up one colored rubber band,
gallop back to the start line, put the rubber band in their plastic bag, and
gallop back to collect more food. Students can pick up only one rubber band at
a time.
Continue until all the rubber bands have been collected.
Have each student count how many of each color rubber band they collected in
their bags. In order to survive, each coyote needs to have 7 green rubber
bands, 7 blue rubber bands, 6 yellow rubber bands, and 2 red rubber bands.
Plant a Tree Relay
Students race to complete the task of planting a tree.
Station 1 – dig the hole: students put on a straw hat and
perform 5 squats
Station 2 – plant the tree: students put on a pair of work
gloves and perform 5 jumping jacks
Station 3 – move mulch: students put a small trash can on a
scooter and push it to the next station; if the trash can falls off, they must
go back and try again
Station 4 – water the tree: students pick up a jumping rope
(represents water hose) and must jump rope to the finish line
