Blog #2

Hey All!
Last monday was an exciting class!  We were divided into groups of 5 people in which we had to go around to different game stations.  At each station, we were to make up a game as a group and include all of the equipment at that station in our game.  (There was different equipment at each of the 5 stations we had to go to).  I am going to be telling you about two out of the 5 games that we invented/played as a group.
In game number one, the equipment used were hockey sticks, hoola hoops and small indoor hockey balls.  The game was that the hoola hoops were spread out in a circle, and there was one person in each hoop (can play with anywhere from 3 to 10 players).  Each person in a hoop was given a hockey stick.  There were 3 balls being used in this game at one time.  The game was that you had to pass a hockey ball from your hoop to another person in the circle.   That person had to receive the pass without stepping out of their hoop.  The players had to call the person's name of whom they were passing to as to try and avoid confusion or passing two balls to one person at the same time.  If a ball was passed that did not go to anyone directly, the player closes to the ball was allowed to step out of their hoop and bring that ball back into the game.  Some modifications made were moving the hoops closer together (so making the circle smaller), in order to speed up the game and make it more difficult for the players.  Another modification was giving each player a number of (depending on how many players) in this case, 1 to 5.  Then making the players pass in the sequence of their numbers.  For example, number two would always receive from number one and have to pass to number three, and so on... this also made the game more challenging.  This game worked on many skills which include: passing and stick handling skills, always having your head up while controlling and passing the ball, communication, and teamwork.  The age group intended would be anywhere from age 10 and up.  This is because at age 10 the kids will be old enough to have a good understanding of this game and should be able to juggle all the skills it requires at the same time.  What I really enjoyed about this game was that you had to communicate well with your team in order to be successful as well as that it forced you to always have your head up and be thinking about your passing.  There was nothing that I disliked about this game nor was I ever frustrated.  It was my favourite game of the day!!

For the second game, the equipment used was a parachute as well as 3 small dodge balls.  This game is intended for age 5 and up, I would say, as any younger children might have trouble holding the parachute up.   The rules of this game were that every person had to hold part of the parachute and the three balls were on top of the parachute.  The point of this game was to wave the parachute up and down while trying to keep all three of the balls on it without them falling off.  One modification we made was that if a ball rolled off between you and the player next to you, both of you would lose a point.  I liked this modification because it made you have to work with the person beside you to try and not let the ball roll off on your side.  It was a great "teamwork" skill required as well as it helped you work on communicating with the people beside you.  Some things that I did not like about this game was that it seemed a little boring as there did not seem to be a lot of options with the equipment given.  Or maybe it just seemed more difficult to be creative with the equipment given at this station. As well as it was surprisingly hard to keep the ball from rolling off your side.  Also, at times it was frustrating when the person beside you wasn't focused or working with you very well to keep the ball from rolling off your side.            
Overall though, this was a fun class as I was able to get to know some people better and be able to work together creatively.
Until next time!
Courtney.