Ho Ho Ho!For most of us, this week will be the last before the Holiday break. With my units all wrapped up like the presents under my tree (*ba dum tss*), I'll be taking the next couple of days to enjoy some of my favourite winter/holiday-themed games with my students!Here are some of the games you'll see in my gym - or out in the snow - this week (I'll be adding to this list as I get more of my games up on the site!):
Santa’s reindeer are on the loose! Can you help round them all up in time for the big night?Print and cut out the nine reindeer cards included in this download and ask a family member to hide them around the house. Then grab your Reindeer Tracker sheet, a pencil, and a coin as you head out to find and catch the reindeer.When you find a reindeer, you’ll need to decide which bait to use to catch it:🍓 Berries cost the fewest repetitions also only give you one flip of the coin.🍎 Apples cost more repetitions to use but give you two coin flips!🥕 Carrots are a reindeer’s favourite! They cost the most repetitions but give you three coin flips!All you need is to get “heads” once to catch the reindeer! Be careful: if you miss it (i.e. you only get tails), then you will have to wait until the next day or until you catch another reindeer to try to catch that elusive reindeer again![button url="https://thephysicaleducator.com/game/reindeer-roundup/" target="_blank" color="blue" size="large" border="false" icon="" btn_content="View Full Rules & Video"]
Elf Express is a holiday version of one of my students favourite games: Caterpillar Riot. I've added a few thematic builds to it to spice things up for this time of the year![button url="https://thephysicaleducator.com/game/elf-express/" target="_blank" color="blue" size="large" border="false" icon="" btn_content="View Full Rules & Video"]
Healthy Hanukkah is a holiday-themed fitness activity designed for at-home learners! To play, students will need to print out the Healthy Hanukkah Game Cards.It’s almost Hanukkah and it’s time to light the Menorah. However, the Menorah candles have gone missing! They must be hidden around the house and it is up to students to find them!Using the printable Healthy Hanukkah Cards resource, students are on a quest to find the candle cards that are hidden throughout their house. Using a dreidel to help determine the amount of repetitions to complete, students can keep the candles they discover by performing a variety of exercise movements.The goal of the game is to collect the nine Hanukkah Menorah candle cards as quickly as possible![button url="https://thephysicaleducator.com/game/healthy-hanukkah/" target="_blank" color="blue" size="large" border="false" icon="" btn_content="View Full Rules & Video"]
Snowman Blitz is a perfect game to play outside in the snow! My students love digging through the snow as they try to find all of the items on their Builder's Lists. I usually use this game right after our first serious snowfall: it's a perfect time to talk to my students about what it means to dress appropriately for the weather and why it is so important that we do so.[button url="https://thephysicaleducator.com/game/snowman-blitz/" target="_blank" color="blue" size="large" border="false" icon="" btn_content="View Full Rules & Video"]
Snow Forts is a fun game that I love to use to have my students working with several groupings of their classmates within the lesson. I use a squad system with my younger students (to learn more about that, check out my "How I Start The School Year" blog posts) which works great, but sometimes it's nice (and challenging) to work with new people too. This game's rotation schedule allows for just that and always provides my class with a bunch of teachable moments. Not to mention that the game can be modified so that each base's fort keeps growing and growing![button url="https://thephysicaleducator.com/game/snow-forts/" target="_blank" color="blue" size="large" border="false" icon="" btn_content="View Full Rules & Video"]
Help families of your school community/neighborhood get outside, be active, and create new memories with the Holiday Hunt Challenge: a holiday-themed neighbourhood scavenger hunt!Families can print out the Holiday Hunt Challenge sheet that is most aligned to their family’s traditions (there are two version of the sheet, each with a different set of holiday icons). With their sheet in hand, families of the same household can hit the pavement on a quest to find all 16 of the challenge items. To check an item off the list, families have to spot it in the holiday decorations that they can find around their neighbourhood. Once they have found all 16 items, families have to option to complete the Holiday Cheer Award Google Form (which is linked in the challenge sheet) to have a customized participation certificate automagically emailed to them![button url="https://thephysicaleducator.com/shop/the-holiday-hunt-challenge/" target="_blank" color="blue" size="large" border="false" icon="" btn_content="Download Resource"]I hope you enjoy these games and that you have an awesome last week before the break with your students! I'll be taking a break from posting for the next couple of weeks to enjoy time with my family and friends, to recharge and relax, and to listen to Christmas music and watch Muppets Family Christmas on repeat.Thanks for reading, happy teaching, and have a wonderful holiday season!
